There’s a fun story behind the name of this bold, new, downtown restaurant. ‘Cold Tea’ is a nod to the history of the building at the corner of Granville and Davie, formerly home to Tsui Hang Village. In its heyday Tsiu Hang was one of the first up-scale Chinese rooms outside of Chinatown. And it attracted a well heeled clientele.
They came for the food, of course. But, in a Vancouver still ruled by straight-jacket liquor laws they came also for late night tea pots—filled with beer. The code name was cold tea. And all you had to do was ask.
That got me thinking back to when a handful of places employed creative solutions to circumvent draconian liquor regs. It was no laughing matter. You had to be careful: a bad relationship with your inspector could essentially spell doom. ‘BYO’ was the simple solution for Chinese restaurants, which often didn’t have a formal wine and spirits list. Or, if they did, it started and ended with Kressmans.
Legendary Vong’s Kitchen (on Fraser St.) was a favourite. The Vong family welcomed everyone with open arms, for the likes of Jade chicken and Atomic rice. And wine left in the lilliputian kitchen was discreetly decanted—yes, into teapots. Occasionally, on birthdays, ‘hot tea’ would materialize. It was Crown Royal…
At Cold Tea, owners Ron Cheng (ex Hapa Izakaya, The Parlour, Tap and Barrel) and Paul Rivas (who owns The Parlour & Bodega on Main) are quick to advise they’ll be adhering strictly to the law. Eventually, evening cocktails will be mixed and served table-side from daytime dim sum carts. But all that will have to come later.
Postponed by Pandemic
Cold Tea had planned to open in late March. However, the pandemic’s arrival forced them to put everything on hold. But the restaurant is now open for in-house dining in addition to offering a limited delivery (Uber Eats, Doordash) and takeout (Tock) menu. Acknowledging that this is a difficult time in history, they want to create change within their community. Cold Tea will donate 10% of all sales for their first two weeks to Black Lives Matter.
East meets west
Think modern Chinese meets Spanish tapas, with a healthy dash of Vietnamese, courtesy of Chef Thien Vuong (former head chef at The Parlour, Bodega on Main, and Frankie G’s), with smart cocktails from partner, Joe Cheng (ex Minami).
Mainstays range from Xiao Long Bao to bahn mi baos, lettuce wraps, veg and meat spring rolls, 5-spice carbonara with Lai Fun rice noodle, lemongrass rice bowls and pho.
“Eventually large family style dinners will include Peking duck, suckling pig and grilled fish. The lighter side of the menu has many gluten free and vegetarian options as well. Full family style options will not be served until restrictions lift.”
You can order from the takeout and delivery menus here.
In the interest of health safety and food security, “nobody will be allowed in the space for precautionary reasons, this will apply to the delivery drivers as well. Hand sanitizers and lysol wipes will be made available right at the front, and will be mandatory for all drivers/guests to use before picking up any orders. Protective gloves and masks will be worn by all staff that interact with outside guests.”
“The 130 person seated restaurant (160 standing) is designed to be unpretentious, inviting, modern, earthy, with classic chinese elements. There is a large abacus (Chinese calculator) at the entrance and Asian artwork and murals around the space.
“There is a larger than life mural in the main dining room by Vancouver’s legendary Sace Forand. The partners decided to keep the massive chandelier and original vases from Tsui Hang on display for some nostalgia.”
We wish them every success!
Cold Tea Restaurant
1193 Granville Street,
Vancouver, BC
604-423-2653
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