Vancouver: Monte Clark Gallery & Boneta

For the longest time, TB had been telling me to go check out his friend's gallery in Vancouver. For one reason or another, I never got around to it. Finally, I made it to the gallery on Granville and 8th Avenue and met Monte Clark, the owner. Currently on show are photographic collages by Roy Arden. But the most recognisable name on the gallery's roster is Douglas Coupland (author of Generation X, Microsefs, jPod etc.). Because I'm on the lookout for interesting artists to talk about what inspires them about the places they live and work in, I asked MC to recommend a Vancouverite. He immediately suggested Karin Bubas. I hadn't heard of her, but I had been drawn to one of her photographs in his private collection (Guest Bed with Bible from her Ivy House series). There's a strange sense of nostalgia in Bubas' photographs, which I find intriguing. I particularly like her Studies in Landscape and Wardrobe series, where a solitary woman is photographed in rather retro-looking outfits facing away from the camera in a beautiful landscape. There is an other-worldly quality to them, but apparently, all the photos were taken around Vancouver.

After feasting my eyes and soul on art, we headed to Boneta in Gastown (an up-and-coming part of downtown Vancouver that's undergoing some cleaning up) for a dinnertime feast. I had a wonderful bison carpaccio followed by the very popular seared scallops with celeraic ravioli (5 out of our table of 8 ordered this dish!). The restaurant was fitted out with a budget of less than CAD90,000. It's a nice, lofty space, with the exception of it being a bit too loud. We were in "the room", which is a booth in the back corner of the restaurant, which seats 8 just right. Yet, we could still hear the cacaphony from the main dining room. The three partners are all ex-Lumiere staff.