Feast restaurant owners take over historic Fish House location

It was a stunner to loyal fans of Stanley Park’s iconic Fish House when earlier this year the restaurant revealed they would be closing down in the fall after 25 years.

This week, however, the Vancouver Park Board announced that they had selected a new lease-holder for the historic venue. Following a lease bid period, the Park Board’s Selection Committee chose the proposal from the part owner and operator of West Vancouver’s Feast Neighbourhood Table.

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“Feast has a focus on the use of fresh local and sustainable ingredients and operates without a freezer. This highly-rated restaurant won the 2015 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for its wine list,” reads the official report from the Park Board on the Fish House contract.

The sublease is for a ten-year period, with an option to renew, and the concept of the restaurant will be “to have a menu which showcases the best of British Columbia products including seafood, meats, produce, wine and spirits. The focus will be on local, fresh and sustainable ingredients sourced from businesses operating in a sustainable and responsible manner.”

This new restaurant will be moving into a storied and longstanding building, which was erected in 1930 at the southernmost quadrant of the park. The structure was first used as a club house for tennis players and golfers and was known as the Sports Pavilion. From 1949 to 1974 it was the Third Beach Tea Room and from 1974 to 1990 the Beach House. In 1990 it became the Fish House restaurant, serving up white tablecloth-style seafood in the picturesque setting.

Fish House/Facebook

The Fish House was operated by SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts, who opted this year to not renew their sublease of the property. The Fish House had been valuable training ground for many local chefs and restaurant folk, and was known for their classic seafood-centric fare and elegant (albeit a tad dated) decor. The restaurant served its last meal at the end of September.

So far, no details regarding the winning bidder’s plans for the space–name, renovations, opening date–have been revealed.