New Restaurant Alert: Archer Opens in Downtown Vancouver September 28

It's the newest spot for Pacific Northwest fare: think wagyu ribeye, crab gnocchi and flaming cheesecake.

By Alyssa Hirose / September 21, 2022

Archer Restaurant is officially opening at 1152 Alberni Street next week, and it’s anticipated to be a godsend for folks in a date night rut. Pictures of the 70-seat, 2,400-square foot space just dropped, and it’s ridiculously romantic: think extra-lush green velvet banquettes, muted curvilinear lighting and a very cool stone masonry bar. That’s thanks to Calgary’s Little Giant Studio.

Ian Lanterman / Glasfurd & Walker

Besides being rich in vibes, this new restaurant’s menu looks spectacular. Executive chef Clement Chan (Torafuku, Chambar, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Blue Water Cafe, Hapa) leads the team, along with cuisine Sandy Chen and executive pastry chef Kiko Nakata. Here are some standouts from their menu:

Binchotan Octopus (fingerling potatoes, pickled jalapeno, crispy
kale, baby beets, sansho kewpie and hazelnut romesco)
Wagyu Ribeye (binchotan ribeye, garlic and rosemary basted tallow, Tokyo turnip fondant, mushroom ragout, ponzu gelée, onion rings and green peppercorn café au lait)
Salmon Crudo (local steelhead and castelvetrano olive crouton)
Sable Fish (black cod papillote, baby zucchini, shishito pepper, sea asparagus, nasturtium, salmon roe, herb spätzle and miso glaze)
Crab Gnocchi (uni bisque, tobiko, confit albacore tuna, snow crab, guanciale, sungold tomatoes and organic greens)
Pork Cheek (burnt onion, fried aubergine, red cabbage puree, potato korokke and house made chili oil)

a glass of smoked oysters displayed elegantly

And there’s a pretty drool-worthy dessert menu, too, including:

Westberry Farms Hive (lime and Tahitian vanilla creme and yuzu curd)
Peach Pit (basil mousse, coconut sponge, matcha moss, peach vanilla compote, strawberry gel and chocolate soil)
Flaming Cheesecake (70 percent chocolate dome, white sesame crust, miso caramel cheesecake, blood orange gel and flaming grand marnier shot)

Archer is co-owned by Karen Ho and Iain Bell of Hobell Group, which is some cool industry info you can drop on your date after they demand you take one hundred photos of them and then hate them all. No matter: scientists say there’s no bad mood a flaming cheesecake can’t fix.