Early Game Plan
The proactive Seattleite’s guide to enjoying a super-sliding, high-flying, great-dining time at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
By Kathryn Robinson and James Ross Gardner
BC Place Stadium
Let the Games Begin
Olympic host countries view the opening ceremony as a chance to show off their culture and history. When the U.S. hosted the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake, for instance, the whole gamut of American history and pop culture (Steven Spielberg and John Glenn made the cut) slid on the stage for a Disney on Ice–grade, multimillion-dollar theatrical show. Vancouver officials are button-lipped about who will appear at their coming-out party, but we predict appearances by Canadians Avril Lavigne, Neil Young, Shania Twain, Nelly Furtado, Alanis Morissette, (fingers crossed) Leonard Cohen, and (uncrossed) Pamela Anderson. Tickets to this event are virtually impossible to acquire; most go to Olympic sponsors, athletes, and dignitaries—and the leftovers are pricey ($1,083 American for nonnosebleed seats). Same goes for the closing ceremony ($767 American). Fortunately, BC Place, like Whistler Village, will also host free nightly victory ceremonies.
Where you’ll eat
With nightly medal presentations taking place under the big white dome, you’ll be needing lots of downtown dinners—good thing, since that’s where most of the emerging culinary vigor in this town is to be found. Best of the classics is Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar (1095 Hamilton St, Yaletown, 604-688-8078; www.bluewatercafe.net), whose generic San Francisco fish-house feel belies an exhilarating local homage to seafood (a stunning BC oyster list, an architectural presentation of prawns in chili-lemongrass broth) brought off with exceptionally pure flavors. Or head into the tenderloin known as Gastown, where low rents, enterprising restaurateurs, and Vancouver’s fearless palates are creating the perfect storm for innovation. Best of the newbies is Boneta (1 W Cordova St, Gastown, 604-684-1844; www.boneta.ca), a whitewashed, multilevel den of metrosexual elegance (dig the suspended mirrors) serving essentials like sure-handed bacon-Caesar salads and braised-chicken sandwiches with taramasalata.
Published: September 2008
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