CITY JOURNAL Eat Here BURGER BISTRO [ BY NOA GLOW ] PHOTO CREDIT: ROBERT SHAER
Nothing spells comfort like Burgoo. With four loca- tions (the latest opened on West Fourth last Novem-
ber), the restaurant’s been a hit with hungry diners ever since Vancouver-based Fore hand Foods Group Inc. founded it back in 2001. Says Forehand vice-president Ken Carty, “When we opened our first bistro in Point Grey we wanted to bring a little comfort to people’s lives and offer them a place where they could enjoy an honest meal and a good drink. It worked, [so] we rode the momentum and opened locations in Kits, Mount Pleasant and North Van.” The word burgoo, he adds, was discovered in a cookbook checked out of the Vancouver Public Library’s central branch. It sounded much better than another name he and business partners Justin Joyce, Stephan MacIntyre and Michael Carty had been toying with for the restaurant: StewArts. Indeed, Burgoo is all about satisfying down-home cooking, with offerings that change in part twice annually (hearty soups and stews in winter, while summer showcases refresh- ing salads). But there’s more to it than that—one glance at the menu reveals a nod to the country of origin of each dish. “Nearly every culture in the world has that one-pot comfort food meal that families serve at their own tables,” says Carty, pointing to French ratatouille, Irish stew, Russian borscht, Spanish paella and Hungarian goulash. “When you visit any Burgoo bistro, you get to enjoy the comfort of these global dishes in our home.”
The concept of home is an important part of the Burgoo
story, too. “Our guests and communities mean everything to us,” he says. “It’s always been a priority to give back to the neighbourhoods we operate in…through holiday hampers, the food bank or A Loving Spoonful, which provides meals to people living with HIV/AIDS in Greater Vancouver.”
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Originally the word ‘burgoo’ was used to describe an oatmeal porridge served to English sailors as early as 1750.
PHOTO: COMFORT FOOD GOES GLOBAL AT BURGOO, WITH SUCH MENU ITEMS AS FRENCH RATATOUILLE, IRISH STEW, RUSSIAN BORSCHT, SPANISH PAELLA AND HUNGARIAN GOULASH.
24 VANCOUVER VIEW MAY 2012
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