Heirloom Vegetarian Restaurant Review

I promised a review of a restaurant I recently 'experienced' in Vancouver and here it is, with pleasure, as I drool over the memory of the dishes.

The weekend started on the right foot with a luxury steam shower while staying in my my good friends' condo just up from Granville Island, in Vancouver.  Once prepped and newly invigorated for the day, we took a walk up Granville Street to go and check out a new restaurant that was just opening.  The shopping is fantastic in the South Granville area but we were hungry and had other appointments to get to so we headed straight to 12th Avenue and Heirloom Vegetarian.  As we approached the restaurant we heard noise coming from inside but noticed the very cool, antique, rod iron elevator door was closed.  We peaked through the bars in disappointment!  Our lunch was not to be.  My girlfriend got the attention of someone inside to ask when they would be opening and that changed everything.

He was a proud new owner who showed us around the gorgeous, comfortable, modern yet fun space.  He pointed out the exposed brick, the original windows, the retro tile on the kitchen floors, the gorgeous bar which was to house organic wines and craft beers and a luxury and I mean top of the line, coffee machine!  Everything has been meticulously thought out in the design of the space.  Kudos to Evoke ID for a beautiful space.

The gorgeous bar area.  Love the window boxes behind the bar!

We were hooked but the owners were holding a family and staff brunch before their big opening and we were out of luck.  I told him I was from the Island and how unfortunate it was that I wasn't able to try out his new restaurant and we were about to walk out the door when he invited us to stay for a parfait.  I wasn't quite sure what a parfait was exactly but I said "yes, we'd love to stay for a parfait, thank you so much!" and we were in.  

I later learned that Heirloom's executive chef, Georgia Morley is a holistic nutrition consultant who in a past life worked as a private chef in the kitchens of lululemon founder Chip Wilson and Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin.  The parfait was not to disappoint. 

The porsche of all coffee machines!

We sat down at a table amongst the family and staff members and felt a little out of place.  But, the owner was amazing, very welcoming and we were pleasantly surprised when he offered us some tea with our parfait.  The parfait came and it was a warm chia with maple syrup and balsamic roasted plums and greek yogurt, sprinkled with bee pollen and hemp hearts.  The symphony of flavours was fabulous and very hearty.  This was not to be the end of our visit though.  Although I would have been fine with just my tea and parfait, we then proceeded to be served 3 more glorious, flavour filled courses and literally rolled out of there.

Our parfait teaser!

Yogi Johl is the co-owner of Heirloom and he checked in on us every few minutes.  At the end of the meal, just before the cacao blackberry fudge, Yogi sat down with us and told us his story.  He is a very accomplished national wrestler who I later discovered, represented Canada in two Olympic Games (he gave us, a very modest rendition of this wrestling career). He grew up believing pasta and red meat was good for you and the more the better.  His physical stature corroborated his story.

Yogi is no stranger to the nightclub/bar business but his establishments were not known for healthy food and more often than not, he would eat at his establishment.  One evening in March while smoking cigars and enjoying a scotch, he and his business partner, Gus Greer, came up with the idea of opening a restaurant where healthy food was served and so the dream of Heirloom Vegetarian was born.   Just 7 months later, a vegetarian restaurant designed with a high end, yet mainstream, style in mind opened to the welcoming Vancouver public.

The brunch menu that day. Can you say drool!

4 courses later and running late for our next appointment we moved to leave. Yogi wouldn't hear of us paying!  We felt like very important food critics or just very famous people but we were in heaven.  I wish that feeling on everyone at least once in their lives.  We were treated to something no one else had yet experienced and made to feel that we were more important than any one else in the room.  Wow, we had just walked off the street.  Who were we but two women looking for a great vegetarian meal.  One of the staff actually commented on just that as we were leaving.  She asked me if we had "just walked in off the street".  I said, "yes" incredulously, and she laughed and said "boy were you lucky, people have been walking in here all day to take a look!"

We were on cloud 9 as we left for another pampering at Bioethique Spa.  All in the day of a VIP!  Needless to say, I highly recommend this restaurant to all my peeps.  Definitely, check it out for a meal and ambience you'll remember and give my best regards to Yogi!  I will definitely be back...if I can get a table!

Heirloom Vegetarian
1509 West 12th
604.733.2231