Chatting with a friend over lunch the other day, we were reminiscing about some of the more colourful characters who have brightened Vancouver’s restaurant scene over the years. Many are no longer with us. But one who is very much still around, if not that often in Vancouver, is Thierry Damilano. He’s the irrepressibly fun and talented former owner of Chez Thierry, a popular French restaurant that was lost to lower Robson street redevelopment in the early 1990s.
Thierry held a demolition party on the last night, with much champagne and bitter sweet celebration. He then took a cab directly to the airport and embarked on a new chapter of his life, as a documentary film maker. His travels have taken him to remote corners of the globe, from Tibet, Indonesia, down the Ganges and to a wealth of other adventures, many of which he’s filmed
His next Vancouver presentation takes place on December 18th (at Studio 16, in le Centre Culturel Francophone de Vancouver) with the opening evening of the “Rendez-vous French Film festival” with Visions Ouest Productions.
Says Thierry:
“One film will bring you to the waters of the Banda sea and with the Asmat tribe in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.
The second film follows the ride of five friends riding Royal Enfield motorbikes on the roads of Rajasthan, India—going from palace to palace. Michel Jacob (Le Crocodile Restaurant) and Paul Dragan (Reckless Rider) are among the Vancouver riders.
A big thank you for all my friends in the restaurant industry and the French community, who have been always a great support, and will delight your palate with some finger food after the event.”
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