Only 37-acres in
size,
Granville Island is justifiably one of
Vancouver’s biggest draws. Just
off the southern edge of downtown and beneath the Granville Street
Bridge, the island draws 12 million annual visitors (71% of them from
outside British Columbia). Since the late 1970s the old factories and
warehouses of this one-time industrial area have been gradually
transformed into an imaginative and high-spirited mix that includes a
giant culinary market offering fresh local products, shops, galleries, entertainment venues, and
casual eating spots. In summer, Granville hosts teh continent's
largest free waterpark, and it's hugely popular with families.
The result is so
appealing that in 2004 Granville Island was ranked No. 1 among the “20 Best
Neighborhoods in North America” by New York-based
Project for Public
Spaces (PPS), above beloved favorites like
San Francisco’s North Beach, Rittenhouse Square in
Philadelphia,
and Miami's South Beach. PPS later named Granville Island as one of 60 among the
“World’s Great Places,” along with Notre Dame Cathedral, Vietnam’s Cai
Rang Floating Market, Sienna’s Piazza del Campo, and the Spanish Steps
in Rome.
The heart and soul
of Granville Island is its superb Public Market. Housed in the
gigantic shell of a former rope factory, it hosts more than 50
permanent shops and temporary vendors arranged in a no-walls open plan. Despite its immaculate and well-organized surroundings, the
market offers all the heady excitement of a great covered food bazaar
in India or Vietnam.
The market’s
emphasis centers on two simple words: Fresh and Local. Multiple
vendors offer a wide and artfully arranged array of garden-fresh
produce—everything from the sweetest, just-ripe peaches and berries in
summer to tiny tangerine-colored cauliflower and delicate Japanese
eggplant in winter. The long glass cases of Oyame Sausage Company are
jam-packed with the kind of charcuterie you last saw in Paris—but it’s
made from pigs raised nearby on hazelnuts, or (as with the lingonberry
venison pâté) local wild game and indigenous fruit.
At the Stock Market
you can pick up a quart of homemade demiglace and an astonishing
assortment of just-made soups. Edible British Columbia sells take-home
goodies from around the region: raspberry & rosemary sea salts from
Greater Vancouver; flower-flecked shortbreads from the Fraser Valley;
Saskatoon berry jams from Okanogan. The Lobster Man can sell you
fresh-smoked herring, salmon packed to take home, or just-off-the-boat
oysters, clams, mussels, and—of course—lots of lobster.
Other food shops
specialize in unusual or hard-to-find ingredients. At the tiny Thai
Princess stand, Suratin Rianpracha sells curry sauces he prepares from
the secret recipes of his mother. Savor preservative-free, handmade
sake designed to complement the taste of West Coast cuisine at Artisan
sake maker. A strong
recommendation: the Granville Island Tea Company, whose enthusiastic
owners will introduce you to rare items such as Organic Orchid Oolong,
grown with orchids and harvested when the flowers bloom, or the
shriveled Golden Peach Blossom that opens up dramatically when placed
in hot water, setting a beautiful red flower afloat.
If you can manage
to pull yourselves away from the Public Market to explore the rest of
Granville Island, you'll find plenty to keep you busy, including
restaurants and cafés, a bookstore geared to cooks, a wine shop
specializing in British Columbia’s increasingly excellent vintages,
outdoor performers, dozens of working artists in their studios, art
galleries, and clothing boutiques. Hop on boat tours, rent kayaks or
bicycles, and visit shops and studios of all kinds.
Of particular
interest:
Daniel Stickel
Luthiery’s fine Classic, Flamenco, and Steel string guitars; and the
handmade reproductions by Wright, Stickley, Mackintosh, Greene, and
others at Northwest Bungalow Furniture. At Granville Eyeland you can
pick up unique eyeglasses designed by German-born Klaus Sëbok, creator
of many over-the-top specs worn by rocker Elton John.
Getting to
Granville Island: The island is easy to reach because it’s in the
middle of the city (on the south shore, beneath the Granville Street
Bridge). Walk, hop a ferry (Aquabus
or False Creek
Ferries), or take a taxi or bus. Avoid going to the island in your
own car because parking is extremely limited.
Read More about Canada:
Provinces & Territories Overview
•
Montreal
•
Quebec City
•
Saskatchewan Driving
Trip
• Toronto
•
Vancouver
•
Vancouver Island
•
Victoria
•
British Columbia:
Food Scene
•
British
Columbia: Golf
•
Quebec City Wine
Tour
•
Vancouver
Island's Wines & Brews
