I’m not typically a ‘post my food kinda person’, but this is a bit different.
It’s the end of an era 🥺
Kirk and I moved to Vancouver in 1987 and we fell in love with two seafood restaurants almost instantly. One was in Vancouver, the other in West Vancouver.
We lived downtown, in the West End, off Davie Street, for the first seven years we lived here. Neither restaurant was local to that area, and both were our destinations for birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations.
The Cannery was located in an industrial area, tucked in the working waterfront area in the Port of Vancouver. In 2009 the Port Authority decided that security for the Port overrode patrons love for the long time dining destination and, in 2010, when the Olympics wrapped up, so did The Cannery and its 39 year run came to a close. We were heartbroken as it had been the first ‘special’ restaurant we’d fallen in love with in the Lower Mainland.
The second place we had frequented, and which became the place for all celebrations on the loss of the Cannery, was The Salmon House on the Hill, in West Vancouver.
Perched on the side of the hill and overlooking the city, it has always been a serene place to enjoy a wonderful plate of perfectly cooked salmon and a glass of wine.
Never inexpensive, but always worth the cheque.
A place you could enjoy a meal and have a conversation without needing to yell over the din of an overly loud sound system.
With very little core staff turnover, one waiter has been there for over 25 years and remembers that he has waited a table for us equally that long.
Every time we’d visit for dinner, walking through the door brings a flood of memories triggered by the familiar scent of the alder smoke grill they are known for. The warm smoky scent permeates the air and foreshadows the smoky flavoured salmon that always graces my dinner plate when we come here.
But now another restaurant icon in the Lower Mainland falls to the ever-encroaching redevelopment. A new complex, with a three storey residential building and a two storey commercial building, replacing the existing two storey commercial and restaurant complex, has been approved for the little plot of land perched on the side of the hill and the restaurant, opened in 1976, closes tomorrow, after being a much loved location for guests to quietly celebrate occasions and enjoy excellent food and service.
The menu was never fussy or filled with unusual fusion flavours. Wonderful seafood; alder grilled salmon, sablefish, seafood towers. The seafood was the showcase, the natural flavours were the highlight. The wine menu featured BC wineries, the environment celebrated indigenous art and culture.
Tonight was no different. And for nostalgia’s sake, it was the Alder Grilled Salmon Trio for me. A trifecta of Chinook, soho, and sockeye salmon, grilled perfectly and infused with that wonderful alder smokiness, set on a bed of shrimp risotto, asparagus, broccolini, salted kale, steamed carrot, and a thin shave of watermelon radish.
It was as good as it ever was, and the last time we will ever enjoy meal here.
We hadn’t been seated in the section with the fellow who had served us for years, but stopped to say goodbye as we left. A handshake, a quick hug. What will he do next? Some time off he said, indefinitely. He is retiring with the closure.
Everything has a lifespan. I wish this one had lasted a bit longer. We moved to the North Shore in 1994, but we were coming here before then, while we still lived in the West End. So we’ve been dining here more than 30 years.
We will miss this place. But we are glad to have been able to enjoy one last dinner and reminisce a bit, both together and in passing with one or two of the staff.