Public Market at Vancouver’s Granville Island

Something about this city always whets the appetite. Perhaps it’s all that fresh air and the strikingly beautiful setting.

Luckily, there are some great restaurants. But many visitors never get to them. Most cruise ship passengers arrive at Canada Place and then head for the airport. Others seem to gravitate toward nearby Gastown and the reliable chain restaurants.

And while it’s very popular with locals, not many visitors discover the gastronomic center of the city: Granville Island. There, anchored by the Granville Island Public Market, is a collection of shops and stores dedicated to good eating.

There are also shops and boutiques selling various items from museum-quality art to T-shirts, but the best reason for coming here is the food.

The market is among the most successful and remarkable farmer’s markets in North America. No matter what the season, the displays of fresh fruit, produce, meat and fish are dazzling.

From the first berries of spring to the last apples and pears of fall, the market is filled with produce, not only from British Columbia, but from all over the world.

It is beautiful as well. The market faces the skyline of Vancouver, with the boats and ferries plying False Creek in the foreground. There is informal outdoor dining on the terraces outside the market overlooking False Creek and on rainy days there are several tables under wide awnings. You can purchase food inside and enjoy an alfresco meal or coffee anytime of year.

We like to go early in the morning and find a table with a view at the Blue Parrot Espresso Bar, order some cappuccino and a bran muffin and watch the activity as merchants stock their stalls. If fresh berries are in season, we nibble on them with coffee. Fresh lychee nuts were a special treat on one visit.

You can easily assemble the makings of a fine lunch from several of the market stalls.

Directly across from the market is La Baguette French Bakery, where fresh bread comes from the ovens all through the morning. Pick up a crusty loaf or some rolls here and perhaps some pastries; they sell cakes by the slice.

Back in the market, we always head for Joanne and Georges Lefebvre’s Stock Market, which offers a selection of enticing soups made fresh each day. We chose the special soup of the day, an intensely flavorful red snapper chowder, $4.25 Canadian (about $3.80 U.S.). They also sell dressings, stocks and sauces.

Just across the aisle, A La Mode sells enormous pies filled with such fresh ingredients as blackberry, raspberry/rhubarb and bumbleberry, a local favorite that tastes like a raspberry/blackberry cross.

Pies are $2.75 Canadian a slice, or you can have them with a huge slab of vanilla ice cream. For breakfast or lunch you might also try the Pacific Salmon Pie.

One stall, the Imperial Smokehouse, sells succulent meats and fish. Barbecued Indian-style salmon ($18.99 a pound Canadian) is lightly smoked over alderwood to give the meat a moist sweetness that enhances the salmon flavor.

Down another aisle you can buy some fresh mozzarella and some sliced prosciutto from Dussa’s Ham and Cheese. It also has locally made sausage and several local cheeses. Ask the helpful staff for special cheeses that they get from time to time. If it’s in, try the Winnipeg Cream Cheese for its fresh flavor.

If you hear a bell ringing, it’s probably Doug Cawker announcing another batch of fresh peanut brittle ($3.95 Canadian) is ready at Olde World Fudge. All other peanut brittle pales in comparison to its fresh, buttery crispness.

If you are inclined to take some goodies home with you, there are several options.

Anne Clapham sells blueberry and raspberry honey from hives she tends in the Fraser Valley. Also, don’t pass up Luc Bergeron’s award-winning maple syrup from Quebec. The syrup comes in light, medium and heavy grades and he gladly offers samples for tasting and discusses differences. We chose the light, which is difficult to obtain elsewhere.

We also found a stall selling some of the best looking wild rice we have ever seen. Tundra Wild Rice is grown in Manitoba and sells for $6.99 Canadian a pound.

All product labeling in the market stalls is tightly controlled by management, so if the merchants say they make or grow something themselves, you can count on it.

Of the several restaurants on the island there are several to recommend.One is Bridges, a large multilevel restaurant with a deck for outdoor dining in pleasant weather. Particularly good are the Manila clams ($9.50 Canadian), at least three dozen of them fresh from local waters. The fresh salmon ($12.50 Canadian) is offered plainly grilled or served with a sun-dried tomato and basil butter.

Bridges always has a fresh fish of the day and various other dishes ($5.95 to $9.50 Canadian), from some very good pizza and sandwiches to a wide selection of appetizers, including a selection of fresh, cold seafood.

The Pelican Bay dining room in the island’s only hotel, The Granville Island Hotel, has a very pleasant and quiet outdoor deck with a view of the marina that is a real haven from the bustle of the island. A honey-glazed rack of lamb was outstanding at $21.95 Canadian per person.

Isadora’s Co-op Restaurant is very informal but serves some of the most innovative food on the island. As the name implies, customers can buy shares in the restaurant and receive a dining credit in return. At present, there are more than 1,500 members. However, it is the food that keeps everyone flocking here. The emphasis is on freshness and using local produce.

An excellent smoked wild salmon sandwich on a croissant was served with a small salad of fresh greens for $6.95 Canadian.

In the evening, such dishes as Juan de Fuca Fish Stew, a rich broth with fresh fish, seasoned with lemon and fresh coriander and basil ($8.95 Canadian) is offered. Brunch on weekends is popular, and dishes run between $6.75 and $7 Canadian.