Vancouver Magazine
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One of the encouraging signs amidst all this chaos is that there appears to be an early recognition that the next weeks and months are going to be exceptionally difficult for small business, restaurants in particular. But there are small businesses and then there are small businesses. Dock Lunch is the latter—no PR, no advertising, no chef exchanges with far flung restaurants. They don’t even have a website for chrissakes (they do have Instagram though). What they have is a tiny space on 11th and Main, furnished in the same way a college apartment might be. And you have the closest thing to (excellent) home cooking you can find in town courtesy of chef/owner Elizabeth Bryan.
It’s a place that I probably hit for lunch once or twice and year and the perfect way to describe it is charming. I can’t imagine it makes much money for Bryan, but it has always had that glow of a place that’s not super interested in chasing a buck as an end goal. It’s part of the community and that’s a sentiment that was underscored when I was scrolling through my Instagram feed a few days back. For the most part I was in a rage about places that were not only fully open, but posting beauty pics to entice diners like it was three weeks ago. And then I came across this from Dock Lunch:
Hi everybody, as most of you know, I shop fresh food markets for Dock supplies and menu each morning. I know the layout and staff at dozens of groceries and can get in and out quickly. We also have a few local suppliers who deliver eggs and local goods to the cafe. It’s easy for me to add a little more to my cart and the saddlebags on my bike.
I’ve been seeing seniors and marginalized folks in the Mount Pleasant area completely alone in stores and looking worried, and very possibly without sufficient means to stock up. I’m unsure of how to take this kind of thing on but am well positioned to do some basic shopping for others who are unable. If anyone who reads this is aware of seniors living in my neighbourhood who could use a modest delivery can you please forward their specifics to me?
Elizabeth 604 376 2211
Amazing. The times are so hectic right now that it’s hard to take in the good that’s happening in the sea of terrible. But I’m making a point of not only noticing moments like this, but remembering them to inform our decisions when we emerge from this morass.
