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Vancouver: A Feast for the Eyes
SMW Women’s Vacation & Travel Resources
By Josie Brown, updated 7/4/2008 at 12:52:34 PM

Seaside serenity. Majestic mountains. City sophistication. This Pacific Northwest beauty by the bay has incomparable vistas in every direction. After taking in the scene, here's where to go to make the scene..

Great Eats

Aurora Bistro
2420 Main Street Vancouver BC. V5T 3E2, 604-873-9944
Besides Aurora Bistro's mouthwatering Five Spice doughnuts, regulars go for its always-on-the-mark price fix tasting menu and wine parings ($49), which features such savory delectibles as Dungeness Crab & Potato Perogies, with crème fraîche, basil, house made bacon and crisp onion rings, served with Sumac Ridge 2004 Steller’s Jay Sparkling Brut.

Golden Szechuan Restaurant
1788 W. Broadway, Kitsilano, 604-738-3648
The city with the largest Chinese population on North America's West Coast is bound to have an astronomical number of good restaurants, serving Chinese food. For great cuisine in any language, try Golden Szechuan for its cold-poached free-range chicken, topped with peanuts and a succulent sauce.

Lumière
2551 Broadway West, Vancouver, BC, V6K 2E9, Canada, 604-739-8185
Thanks to its eclectic blend of European sophistication, modern French cuisine and a homegrown cornucopia of tasty delights, Lumière is the first freestanding restaurant in Canada to receive the Relais Gourmand designation. Its elegant yet cozy 30-seat tasting bar is a great place to try some of its renowned delicacies, including the heavenly barbecue duck broth, butternut squash risotto with regianno parmesan, and the macaroni & cheese with four cheeses and double smoked Irish bacon.

Yoshi
689 Denman St., West End, 604-738-8226
And while sushi is ubiquitous with all great Pacific Rim cities, Vancouver has an extraordinary collection of them. High on that list is Yoshi. Its Stanley Park patio is the perfect setting for its where the long knives prepare sushi and cooked meals that gently placate even the toughest critics, and the patio facing Stanley Park is an added summertime bonus, as is the beer jello (trust us). This is a restaurant where ponying up for a kaiseki meal is totally worth it.

Great Meets

Bar None
350-1222 Hamilton St., Yaletown, 604-689-7010
All are hailed in tony Yaletown's Bar None, a favorite with the twenty-to-thirtysomething set. Because of its long-standing house bar, SoulStream, and its great DJ remix sets, the dance floor is always hopping.

Caprice
965 Granville St., Downtown, 604-685-3288
Granted, its warehouse-size space should allow plenty of room to see and be part of the scene, but still the velvet rope is always out at this favorite club of the beautiful people. Expect a line at the door, but a party that's worth it.

Spectacular Sights
Vancouver boasts 3,200 acres of parks. At 1,000 acres, Stanley Park is not only the largest in Vancouver, but all of Canada, and is ranked the 16th Best Park in the World, and the 6th Best in North America, according to Project for Public Spaces. Its estimated half million trees include some that are 250 feet tall, and hundreds of years old. Besides a 5.5 mile seawall path that circles the park, there are approximately 125 miles)of trails and roads in the park. No wonder it attracts 2.5 million pedestrians, cyclists, and inline skaters every year.

English Bay wraps around the northern section of the city. Sea walls and broad, well-used walking paths can be found on both the south and north sides. The path along the city side looks out onto not only the bay but also the snow-crested North Shore Mountains beyond, home to three ski areas—Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour—are within 20 to 30 minutes (driving time) of downtown Vancouver. You'll find great paths for hikes or your mountain bike, on trails that hug the Capilano River, Lynn Creek, and Seymour River.

That's "Shopping," with a "B"

Bedo
2997 Granville St., South Granville, 604-734-1390; 776 Granville Street, Downtown, 604-694-2336
Detailing, a unique cut, and clothes that boast a fine finish is the calling card for this Montreal-based boutique—not to mention prices that don't make you cry.

The Block
350 W. Cordova St., Gastown, 604-685-8885
This hip Gastown shop features its own in-house line, as well as Mono from Heather Martin, and other edgy designers, like Built by Wendy and Jenny Hellström, and Isabelle Dunlop.

Boboli
2776 Granville St., South Granville, 604-257-2300
Shaughnessy scensters practically live here. Maybe because Boboli is the exclusive distributor of Roberto Cavalli for Vancouver. Other lines carried include Missoni, Bluemarine, Issey Miyake, Car shoes and Valentino.

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