Last call? Fate of storied Vancouver restaurant hangs in the balance

This Wednesday, the fate of a local family restaurant that has been in operation for decades will be decided at a Vancouver City Council meeting.

We had previously written about the Shaughnessy Restaurant in July of this year, after learning that the City was considering replacing the historic establishment for a larger financial return.

It now looks to achieve that goal by replacing Shaughnessy Restaurant with Truffle Fine Foods as the operator of the VanDusen Botanical Garden restaurant.

For the Chattens, it’s about more than just the business. We spoke to both Carlle and Chris Chatten, who run their family’s restaurant, following our last story, and they had a lot to say about this pending decision.

Chris is the primary owner-operator, while Carlle has been handling events, like wedding bookings, at the establishment, which have been in high demand.

“Not only are we concerned about the future, we’re concerned about the future for the 35 families that have been employed at Shaughnessy restaurant for decades,” Chris told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“We even have a father and son waiter-busser combo,” he said, adding that it’s a family-style restaurant that he and his wife and Carlle have developed over the years.

In a worst-case scenario, all of those people will lose their jobs.

Contention with the way the City has navigated this process

The Chattens said they didn’t even realize the fate of their restaurant until they read a Daily Hive Urbanized article.

Shaughnessy Restaurant wasn’t even the focus of the article in question. It was a story about how the Hawksworth Restaurant Group was going to open a new concept at the Kitsilano Boathouse Restaurant space.

The article noted that City Council was going to recommend awarding the catering company Truffle Fine Foods the lease.

“The representatives that we’ve been in touch with apologized that’s the way we found out,” Carlle told Daily Hive Urbanized. She wondered if their competitors found out the same way. Carlle wished they had been informed in advance so that they could have notified everyone involved, including staff, sooner.

“It’s been really difficult to have these conversations about what the future holds,” she said.

Chris told Daily Hive that the original restaurant, which was called Sprinklers, was opened in 1984 by him and some partners. He eventually left the establishment, but not forever.

“In 1998, it was in a petition to avoid bankruptcy, and I repurchased the restaurant.”

Chris told us that within a few months, it was successful again.

Since then, the Chatten family has invested a substantial amount of money in making improvements to the restaurant. In recent discussions with the City regarding the next lease, the family agreed to invest even more money in improvements and renovations.

According to Chris, negotiations about the next lease date date back to 2020, and he received several assurances about the future of the establishment since then.

In April 2024, Chris heard from the contact he was dealing with, who added that there had been some sporadic communication on the City’s end. He was informed he might have to go through with the RFP process.

Chris asked, “What about these weddings we’re booking?”

Carlle had asked her father if she should continue booking weddings, and because Chris was informed that they shouldn’t stop, he told her to do so as well.

“So we booked the weddings.”

Soon after, Chris said he got a cease and desist letter for operating outside of the lease.

Chris wrote an email back expressing that he felt blindsided, and it was then determined that they had to go through the procurement process. Carlle added that because of the way they were advised, she had initially booked weddings all the way up till November 2025, “As we have been told we could.”

“So they have extended our lease, plus the December Festival of Lights season, so that’s why the lease is expiring at the end of January 2026,” Carlle said.

Before that happened, they were required to prove that they had those bookings and were initially told they could retain the restaurant until November 1.

Chris then emailed the contact they were dealing with, saying, “You get $50,000 rent in December with the Festival of Lights. He said, ‘Oh, okay, you can have the restaurant till Jan. 31.'”

While the restaurant initially had a waitlist of over 60 bookings, after they found out what was going on, they had to let everyone know, including wedding parties that sought the venue for their important day.

“So unfortunately, now our waitlist is very minimal,” Carlle said.

What happens next?

A council report reveals further details about the potential replacement for Shaughnessy Restaurant, suggesting a five-year term with the option to extend for two additional five-year terms, for a maximum of 15 years.

The council report suggests that the City will not provide financial contributions to the operator during the potential contract. The matter was to be discussed at a council meeting in July, but the agenda item was withdrawn.

“The current operation is in need of significant capital investment, refreshed branding, and improved facilities to enhance its appeal and attract a broader customer base. The objective is to transform the space into a destination-style restaurant that offers a high-quality full-service restaurant experience with a dynamic special events program, including weddings, corporate functions, and private gatherings,” the report adds.

Carlle has had to stop booking events, which are in very high demand, since the future of the restaurant is uncertain.

The pair also told Daily Hive Urbanized that the Van Dusen Botanical Garden Association was one hundred per cent behind them, but was never consulted about the potential changes.

Chris can’t understand why the City would choose Truffle over their proven track record.

“We’ve been there for so long. We’ve increased the business in the last three years from $2 million in sales to $4 million. I have 53 years of experience in this business. We can’t understand why they have chosen a corporate caterer who has never done what we do.”

A petition created earlier this year to save the restaurant has over 5,000 signatures. We won’t have to wait much longer to determine the fate of the storied establishment, as the City is set to decide on the matter this Wednesday.

In response to our request for comment about the challenge with the process, we received the following statement from the City of Vancouver:

“The lease opportunity for the restaurant at VanDusen Botanical Garden followed a competitive process with the goal to provide a destination-style restaurant that provides high-quality dining and special events.  The process aligned with the Procurement Policy and our commitment to open, transparent, and competitive procurement,” the City said.

“Proposals were received from two respondents and evaluated by staff based on a comprehensive set of evaluation criteria covering financial, technical and sustainability considerations. Staff are recommending the proponent that scored the highest across the evaluation criteria and are confident that the recommended proponent will provide a great guest experience to the public and high value to the City and Park Board.”

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