Cozy up to the Bar

From the WE Westender
November 15, 2007

It's a dark and stormy night and you’ve got to get out of the house. Your relatives are in town and you need a place to chill with them between the Art Gallery and the opera. Someplace mellow and inviting with a warm feel to ward off the moisture and enough glow to contrast the dreary outside. A place where the drinks are satisfying, the food hearty, and where someone might even know your name.

You need to curl up in a cozy bar.

Bars - or lounges, or taverns, or whatever you prefer to call the place you go to imbibe - run the gamut in Vancouver, but cozy is a matter of taste. A joint that feels like a favourite well-worn sweater to some people might feel like a idtchy, mothe-eaten, charity -fedder castoff to others. That’s why, when your visitors come knocking, it’s good to have a handful of different places to take them. Here’s my favourites.

Bacchus Restaurant and Piano Bar
Wedgwood Hotel – 845 Hornby near Robson
604-689-7777/www.wedgewoodhotel.com
If you want to impress a visiting aunt with old world opulence, take her to Bacchus. Nestled in the Wedgewood Hotel, Bacchus is central to the downtown cultural scene and it offers the kind of atmosphere you see in old Back and White movies. In fact, judging from my eavesdropping, the hotel attracts lots of Hollywood North types.
Coziness Factor: Don’t let the faux-stone walls, marble floors, red velvet couches wingback chairs and roaring fireplace put you off. The staff is far less snooty than the décor suggests. I heard one waiter being downright jocular.
Drinks/Food: An excellent selection of wines by the glass pair with the platter of seven different BC cheeses, for $11. Not so hungry? Every drink comes with two half-carafes of nuts.

Six Acres
203 Carrall Street at Powell
604-488-0110/ www.gastown.org/microsite/moons001
A new-ish saloon in an ancient building, this is where the wild west meets the Belle Époque, From a ground floor table one can look out of the high windows at the wet brick streets and almost see the statue of Gassy Jack tipping his hat.
Coziness Factor: Brick dominates the walls, but wood rules everywhere else. A long bench runs along one side with the saloon chairs reflecting the casual atmosphere. Warm, hanging lamps give the double-level space a warm glow.
Drinks/Food: An abundance of ale and whiskeys share the menu with small plates and hearty sandwiches. A 500 ml bottle of Hobgoblin Ale and the Mexican Wrestler Quesadilla - $7.25 each - will send you out into the cold well sated and not much poorer.

Sylvia Hotel Bar
1154 Gilford Street at Pacific.
604-681-9321/www.sylviahotel.com
After taking visitors on a brisk walk along the seawall the historic Sylvia Hotel serves as a beacon of civility from the wilds of adjacent Stanley Park. The Sylvia was built in 1912 as an apartment house, and when the lounge opened in 1954, it was Vancouver’s first “cocktail bar.”
Coziness Factor: With its austere wood-paneled interior, soft lounge chairs and benches, fireplace and sconce lighting, the bar feels all the more cozy as you gaze through the expansive windows at threatening weather over English bay.
Drinks/Food: If you don’t want to over-imbibe, they have half pints of beer for $3.25. Cocktails like the Sylvia Caesar go for under $8 with wine by that glass topping out at $10. Pair one of those with the crab/shrimp/Swiss stuffed mushrooms, sit back and relish the geniality.
Bonus feature: Free parking in the hotel’s underground lot.

O’Doul’s Restaurant and Bar
1300 Robson Street at Jervis, under the Listel Hotel
604-661-1400/www.odoulsrestaurant.com
O’Douls is the kind of bar that inspires a New York state of mind. Every evening, local and nationally known jazz artists swing from nine to midnight; during Jazz Fest, jam sessions begin when the last set ends. It’s a sophisticated version of the fictional Cheers, where regulars are handed their favorite drink without ordering.
Coziness Factor: Warm sepia tones and rich shades of burgundy frame the elegant wrap-around bar where the comfy stools offer the best views. Farther from the stage are cushioned benches and lounge chairs to snuggle into.
Drinks/Food: The kitchen makes a mean pizza for $13 and the house-made cheesecake ($9) comes in a rotating cycle of flavors to pair with any number of wines by the glass.

Chow
3121 Granville Street near 16th
604-608-2469/www.chow-restaurant.com
Open for less than a year, this neighborhood bistro has garnered raves for surprising food, attentive service and the simple fact that it’s not too loud.
Coziness Factor: Who says ultra modern can’t also be warm and inviting? Chow is like the inside of a cigar box, with candles, backlighting and comfy lounge chairs giving it a cozy edge.
Drinks/Food: They make a killer whiskey sour and the chef-named Le Poirer is a brilliant mix of brandy and pear juice. Both of them make the mouth watering pont-neuf potatoes go down like butter.