The Sunday Best

Clear Sign GQ Has Funding Problems

 

 (I'm pretty sure at least once an issue a GQ writer makes fun of Affliction/Ed Hardy guys.)

Vancouver Guide | Eat! Shop! Win!

The 2010 Winter Olympics begin in Vancouver on February 12. Chances are if you're coming you've already scoured online resources, flipped through a Fodor's or two, and mapped out a rough eating/shopping guide for all that downtime between biathlon and curling.  

But those guides, for all their good intentions, are probably steering you clear from any place where you might have a little fun. Your most memorable meals didn't occur in some Zagat-rated pod, and that jacket you've worn for ten years wasn't purchased at The Bay. It would be a shame to visit Vancouver and only go where the Olympic organizers want you to (i.e. West of Cambie).

Note: all of these choices and more are included in a Google map. Scroll to the bottom.

BEST PLACE IN VANCOUVER TO HAVE A DRINK

Six Acres - 203 Carrall Street

(image copyright Six Acres)

Great location, good grub, excellent selection of beer. Pretty much the perfect place to drink.

SHOP

A recent Macleans article articulated what many of us have been mumbling about for some time - Canada, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, is a bit of a retail ghost town. Like George Clooney's character in O Brother Where Art Thou who only wants Dapper Dan pomade, we're two weeks from everywhere. That said, Vancouver is still home to its fair share of fine retail establishments, gentleman's clothing-wise.

(Normally Jonathan + Oliva would be on this list, but unfortunately they closed their doors on January 30. My one and only article by Engineered Garments is from there. The Toronto store is still open, and they'll be opening an online shop soon.)

Mr. Lee's General Store and Haberdashery -109 East Broadway

Written about recently on this here blog. Such a nice little store.

Welcome Home, Eugene Choo - 3683 Main Street

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In the heart of the Main Street shopping district. A.P.C., Steven Alan, Rogues Gallery, Pendleton.

Gravity Pope - 2203/2205 West 4th Avenue

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The best shoe selection in Vancouver. Expensive but beautiful clothing next door.

The Block - 350 West Cordova (Gastown)

Fred Perry, Dunderdon, Filippa K, Filson. 

Pulpfiction Books - 2422 Main Street

Like the record store in High Fidelity, only with books.

Caffe Artigiano - 763 Hornby Street (multiple locations around Vancouver)

Most reliable place to get great coffee. A barista from this chain has won the Canadian National Barista Championship since the competition's inception.

EAT

Michelin stars, celebrity chefs, macrobiotic organic...whatever. All you need to know is this - Vancouver has amazing food. AMAZING food. What's more, you'd have to put serious effort into spending more than $40 a person, although there are excellent places that will gladly take it.

Breakfast

Cafe Medina - 556 Beatty Street

(Image copyright Cafe Medina)

Opened by the good people of Chambar next door. Serves perfect Belgian waffles (and various breakfast skillets and fry-ups) which are a sublime way to start the day...or afternoon.

Little Nest - 1716 Charles Street

Excellent for breakfast or lunch, and of particular interest for parents with small children. Genuinely kid friendly - has play area, toys, colouring items. That aside, the food is spectacular. Arrive early - fills up quickly and kitchen closes at 3.

New Mitzie's - 176 E. Pender Street

Sometimes you want your omelette to just be eggs and cheese, your hashbrowns shredded greasy potato, your coffee black water. This is the place. Service borders on the familial - just a nice place.

Lunch

There are, easily, 100 quality locations for lunch in Vancouver. It would be tempting to simply give up and head for the nearest McDonalds (certainly the IOC want you to do this. Ka-Ching!) Do not do so under any circumstances. Eating at a McDonalds in Vancouver is like staying in the Park Hyatt Tokyo and sleeping in the furnace room.

You want...Japanese noodles:

Motomachi Shokudo - 740 Denman Street

Menya Noodle - 401 West Broadway

The only slight against either restaurant is they aren't open at 2AM, the prime ramen eating hour. But either restaurant will satisfy even ardent ramen fans.

You want...Vietnamese sandwiches:

Truong Giang - 392 East Hastings Street

(banh mi - image copyright)

Chances are people are telling you not to go anywhere near East Hastings, and sure, it is the poorest neighbourhood in Canada. But if you like banh mi, the unparalleled Vietnamese sandwiches prepared on French baguettes, you have to go to Truong Giang. Brilliant. It helps that its run by the nicest people on earth. 

You want...sandwiches (other):

Finch's Tea and Coffee House - 353 West Pender Street

Crowded, busy, excellent. Perfect chocolate chip cookies. And the sandwiches - brie, walnuts, and grapes. Sounds insane. Tastes like eating a lesser god. If the lesser god was delicious.

You want...Chinese:

There are so many Chinese restaurants in Vancouver and I always laugh when I see Best Of lists. How can you possibly begin to rank them? You could go to any of them and have a very good meal for less than seems possible, but if you only go to one...

Hon's Wun-Tun House - 1339 Robson Street

 

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Hon's is neither my favourite Chinese restaurant, nor would I call it the best*, but it is definitely Vancouver's most iconic. It is an institution - I once met a couple from San Francisco who had gone to Hon's on their first date and came back once a year. It's the kind of place you can take 20 people at ten o'clock at night and they won't even flinch. Good, fast food with plenty of room.

(*Right now my nod would go to Prince on Grandview Highway)

Also recommended:

Legendary Noodle - 1074 Denman Street

Dinner

Guu

Guu with Garlic

Kitanoya Guu with Otoko Mae

838 Thurlow, 1698 Robson, 105-375 Water 

 

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Izakaya is quickly becoming Vancouver's regional cuisine, despite the fact it originated in Japan. A constant influx of tourists and language students has brought this Japanese bar food to Canada, and we are all the better for it. While you're likely to have a memorable meal in any izakaya restaurant I retain a soft spot for Guu et al., the first and arguably still the best example.

Good second option: Gyoza King - 1508 Robson Street

Nuba - 207b West Hastings Street

 

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If you like Lebanese food, it's probably enough information for you that Nuba serves it. If you've never had it, Nuba is the place to go. Wonderful atmospheric location below street level. I recommend le grand feast, an ambitious plate for two (probably better for three people with one more dish). Also - Turkish coffee.

Moderne Burger - 2507 West Broadway

Burgers done right, cooked to perfection. Real fries piled big as your head.

Congee Noodle House - 141 East Broadway

To do this restaurant justice you should really be drunk or hung over. Not that you need inebriation to make the food palatable, but the experience isn't complete unless you're either buzzed or regretting it. Nothing on this menu comes out looking pretty. All of it is good.

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Inspiration | Milan and Paris FW2010

In the past during the shows I'd pick a favourite and worst look for every designer. I've also chosen songs that represented the outfits. Looking back (or as much as I can since deleting the archives) these seem more like gimmicks than genuinely interesting ideas. I realized that I don't like to read extensive commentary on the season's offerings, but instead like to browse through other people's choices and see how our tastes are different. (Or in the case of the Dapper Kid, exactly the same.)

So presented here with limited commentary, my inspiring looks from FW2010...so far. (All pictures copyright GQ.com. Thank you for not suing.)

Junya Watanabe Man

That coat.

Moncler Gamme Bleu by Thom Browne

At the heart of this crazy outfit is a beautiful down filled blazer.

Etro

That coat. And from the back:

Raf Simons

Lovely suit.

John Galiano

Publications | Inventory and Fire & Knives

Is putting out a magazine in 2010 an act of rebellion or foolishness or both? While I've been a lifelong fan of the paste and paper periodical, it would be no overstatement to say that recently magazines have seemed doomed to suffer the same fate as pet rocks. Everyone predicts Apple will release the Christ Tablet on January 27, and some wonder if this will possibly be a positive boon to the publishing industry (if not the paper portion of it). Or will it be only another nail in the magazine coffin?

2009 saw the release of two new magazines that were so in tune with my current tastes they were practically bespoke.

Inventory is the latest project of fellow Canadian Ryan Willms', previously of the now defunct h(y)r collective. Willms made the switch  to develop a "brand and project [he] can grow into the future." It's a well-crafted affair, with all the contemporary hallmarks of a quality magazine - heavy paper, beautiful photography, and a careful eye to design.

It's hard not to see the influence of Monocle, especially in the typographical choices, and Willms' is more than familiar with the magazine, having written an article on Victoria for a recent issue. Similarly, Inventory boasts a full compliment of collaborations, and stocks a store full of them and other carefully chosen pieces. The subjects covered in issue one will be familiar to readers of this blog: Duluth Packs, Engineered Garments (my current favourite label), fashion spreads with Woolrich and Penfield and Alexander Olch. 

It would be hard to find fault with Inventory, considering it exists at all and is such a wonderful object. But since everyone that I know who has read the magazine has made the same comment, I feel obliged to point this out. For all the passion clearly evident in its pages, the writing in the magazine is strangely reserved. It borders on being merely factual. This is especially odd since the writers have an obvious love of their subject matter, and seem, at least from a technical standpoint, to be perfectly capable. 

It's as if in their desire to sound like unbiased reporters they have forgotten the reasons they wanted to report on these things in the first place. Here is Ryan Willms on the fascinating Daiki Suzuki of Engineered Garments:

His passion for materials has created a positive atmosphere throughout each collection that makes getting dressed something to look forward to....All of the pants this season come with a drawstring at the bottom which add (sic) to the casual feel and allow (sic) you to play with the proportions a little bit more.

Hopefully later issues will feature the same passion seen in the photographs and design in the writing.

Where Inventory comes up just short, Fire & Knives absolutely excels. It is, in every way, the perfect magazine. Excellent layouts, wonderful size, and writing that crackles and bites and, yes, has an abundance of flavour. For Fire & Knives, it's all about the writing, and the first issue is crammed full of passionate, inspired (and inspiring) words.

It's hard to pick a favourite, but if I had to it would be "The Devil's Herb" by Felicity Cloake, with amazing illustrations by Harriet Russell. A discussion of the desire to and dangers of cooking with tobacco, it is at turns funny, a little tragic, and above all informative without being pedantic.

If the Shirt Fits, Wear It

If you're 5', 10", with a 32" waist whatever size is considered standard, chances are you've never had a problem finding clothes that fit you. But for the rest of us, with our odd shapes and sizes and thick thighs and broader than hipster shoulders, finding off-the-rack clothes that fit just right can feel eternally futile. 

So in the interest of creating a kind of global fit guide, here is a list of retail-available clothing and sizes that fit me very well. For reference I am

5 feet 5 and 3/4 inches standing in bare feet;

I have a 31 inch waist and I wear my pants just below my hip bone; 

I weigh 161 pounds;

I have a 36 inch chest and a 14 1/2 inch neck; and,

I have relatively large thighs for my waist size.

If you find you can buy clothes off the rack that fit you just right, please consider writing a post like this of your own. Chances are there are people just your shape and size looking for clothes but not sure what sizes to trust or even try.

One further note - every recommendation has been verified at least three times on separate purchases. While this is in no way a guarantee, it's a small certainty in a world where I own size 8, 9, and 9.5 shoes.

I Declare It A Perfect Fit

Shirts

 LL BEAN regular oxford shirt in SMALL - fits me better than any shirt I've ever owned. Now own three.

UNIQLO shirts in SMALL - very good fit. In fact, UNIQLO items in SMALL all fit me very well. Sweaters, shirts, or vests.  

More Often Than Not

CLUB MONACO shirts in SMALL - I bought one small that just didn't work, but otherwise fairly reliable.

Sweaters

The aforementioned UNIQLO in SMALL

 

ALL SON in SMALL - seems to be an Urban Outfitters brand. Small fits perfectly.

CHEAP MONDAY in SMALL - sizing can be all over the map with this brand, but so far so good with the sweaters.

Pants

GAP cords in 31 x 30 - when GAP made a 28 inch inseam it was party all the time. Then they decided to hell with these short people, they can hem their pants. But for some reason the 31 x 30 cords fit me so well it's like they were made for me.

FARAH pants in 34 - like a glove, if such a thing is possible. Now, I did have to get them hemmed, but considering how well they fit after that it's a small price to pay. (Literally - my tailor hems pants for $6. Find yourself a local tailor immediately.)

Brands That Have Schizophrenic Sizing and Yet I Still Buy Them

CHEAP MONDAY jeans - there is no rhyme or reason to this brand's sizing whatsoever when it comes to their jeans, but I still like them better than almost any others (that cost less than $100). 31 fits me, 32 fits me, and sometimes even 33 fits me. 

AMERICAN APPAREL - worst sizing ever. I wear small and medium t-shirts, medium and large cardigans, and even have a large sweatshirt kicking around somewhere. Even accounting for the fact that they use men with no asses as fit models, this level of uncertainty is just unacceptable. Anyway, here's more of my money.