Our favorite vegan restaurant in Vancouver is ‘Graze’.  So when Michael Lyons, the owner told us he was going to open up a new, more laid back restaurant up stairs, we could hardly wait.  He did crowd funding with “Fundrazr” and we even contributed.  So, we were invited to the grand opening, which was on April 11th.

Mike’s vision was a year round summer theme.  Like an indoor park.  When you first walk in, you see a food truck.  There is a place with pillows and blankets on Astroturf and wall painted like a meadow.  There is a wall to wall ceiling height movie screen with a beach scene.  I could watch the waves lap back and forth against the sand for hours.  There was a beach bar and a dock with heavy beach chairs that lean back.  There were also picnic tables in the middle. Hokey? Yes, a bit, but fun!

We decided on the beach chairs.  We got drinks at the bar and then “beached” ourselves on the dock. By the time we diced to place our food order at the truck, the place was packed, I would say over capacity.  The food took an extremely long time to come out.  However, we were enjoying our selves anyway.  It was also the grand opening, like a dry run, so to speak, so we didn’t expect the service to be fast.  However, the servers were all super nice, just like the servers in Graze.

Once the food came out, we did enjoy it.  The menu for the food truck will change to different themes.  Tonight we tried the veggie burger, Buffalo wings, fries, coleslaw, potato salad, and collard greens.  There was also BBQ seitan which, looked good but we had too much food.  My favorite was the veggie burger that has a smoky flavor but all the food was really fresh and good.  Something to be expected from the sister restaurant to Graze.

The collard greens were different than what you would expect as they were pickled.  I am guessing the chef at Graze had a hand in that because she likes to pickle.  I am totally addicted to her pickled green beans and buy them by the jar full.  They are crisp with a smoked flavor.

The new restaurant is still a work in progress.  The stairway needs lighting and there are some wires hanging, etc.  However, I do recommend you stop on by.  We will certainly be going there to eat frequently.  I am looking forward to see what other food themes they come up with for the rotating menu.  Mike mentioned, Mexican, Jamaican, and Carnival.  I hope there isn’t cotton candy with the carnival theme, even the sight of it is a bit nauseating to me.  LOL!

4/5