Don’t call it a pop-up: Dual usage gives Vancouver bar and restaurant owners a leg up

By day, the space at 213 Carrall Street is a hopping brunch restaurant — one of Vancouver’s most popular, in fact. 

Located at Gastown’s busiest intersection, Twisted Fork serves up cozy, comforting dishes such as baked eggs with smoked gouda and bacon; asiago scones with house-made jam; and shakshuka with eggplant, cucumber salad, and corn salsa. 

By night, though, 213 Carrall Street transforms into something else entirely. Come 6 pm, a “classy but trashy” wine and snack bar takes over the space. Don’t call it a pop-up, though: Breeze Bar is its own permanent business. It just so happens to be located in the same space as Twisted Fork.

This idea of one place having dual usage is slowly becoming more popular in Vancouver, and for good reason: in a city with high rents for commercial spaces, everyone is looking to maximize their profitable hours. Instead of one concept stretching out its own service, though, some entrepreneurs have decided to team up in what can easily be described as a win-win situation.

“To put it succinctly, Mike didn’t have to come up with a concept, and I didn’t have to buy an oven,” jokes Breeze Bar co-founder Ryan Tanner, referring to Twisted Fork’s co-owner Mike Leslie. “It’s dual usage in a trying economic time.”

Tanner and his business partner Josh Ochotorena, both restaurant veterans, were interested in striking out on their own. When they heard that Leslie was looking for an evening tenant for Twisted Fork, the long-time industry friends decided it was the right fit. 

Breeze Bar is similar to Twisted Fork only in that it operates within the same space. Both businesses have their own branding, their own staff, and their own ingredients (albeit they will share certain products, such as beer). And where Twisted Fork serves up cinnamon buns and mimosas, Breeze Bar focuses on an ever-changing wine list and loaded hot dogs, including some with caviar.

Despite this differentiation, Tanner admits that some people wander up looking for Breeze Bar and are confused to see Twisted Fork signage instead. But that element of surprise was intentional.

“I specifically wanted to go through things in an organic-growth manner of identity, and was very specific to not have certain signage on there,” he says. “I wanted to get people into the space and have them feel comfortable once they’re there, and almost have this speakeasy idea.”

It certainly does feel like a little bit of a secret when you walk up to a place known for one specific thing and discover that it’s doing something else entirely.

“People that get it, and that are my regulars, greatly appreciate what the space is for them,” Tanner says, “and that it offers something that is different from other spots in the city.”

Twisted Fork and Breeze Bar aren’t the only businesses joining forces in this way. Prototype Coffee, the so-hip-it-hurts cafe on East Hastings, opened up a second location inside Mount Pleasant’s Please! Beverage Co., where it operates during the day, serving its house-roasted coffees and cult-favourite waffle donuts. 

Then there’s the one that, in many ways, started it all, The Birds & The Beets. The Gastown cafe has had a slew of different evening partners in its space, including a cider-focused concept and the celebrated natural-wine-loving Juice Bar. These days, Bar Tartare takes over the cafe at night, with a selection of funky natural wines and rotating chefs cooking get-them-before-they’re-gone food menus.

“Birds had a really beautiful space that looked beautiful at night,” recalls Birds co-owner Matt Senecal-Junkeer. “My plan was always to do something in the daytime, but I saw that the space had potential in the evening.”

He and Sean Cunningham, his partner in business and life, debated doing something themselves, but nothing came to fruition. “We didn’t really have a good game plan,” he admits. “But we met some people that were looking for a space, and an idea came to me that could be the best of both worlds: if we’re not using the space in the evening, why not bring someone in?”

Aside from the obvious economic benefit, Senecal-Junkeer points to another positive: time away from work.

“For an independent business that is owner-operated, it’s really tough to operate day and night from a personal-life balance perspective,” he says. “Sharing the space means that, at four o’clock, I don’t need to worry about my business. And then for Lindsay [Otto, of Bar Tartare], there’s nobody calling her during the day about a plumbing issue or something like that. We divide and conquer.”

It has been such a success that Senecal-Junkeer and Cunningham have repeated the idea at their second space, Chinatown’s Hunnybee Bruncheonette. Come evening, two different enterprises take over on different nights: Wednesday to Saturday it’s Thank You Pizza (wood-fired sourdough pies and natural wines), and Monday to Tuesday it’s Taqueria Chicatana (al pastor tacos). Having entirely separate entities allows each business to build its own unique customer base.

“From a branding perspective, it’s really tough to speak to customers in all-day segments,” acknowledges Senecal-Junkeer. “This way, the brands are able to speak to their own crowd and have their own voice.”

Dual-usage spaces aren’t just a win for the business owners either, they’re also a win for the customer.

“I live in the neighbourhood of both my restaurants, and it’s nice to have things that are open in those spaces,” says Senecal-Junkeer. “It’s kind of depressing when you walk by a closed restaurant. I can’t imagine going by Hunnybee on a beautiful, sunny Friday evening, and the doors just being shut.”