HOP TO IT

Drinking buddies: two very different beer-forward pubs open in Vancouver.

Christmas season is over for another year, the relatives have all gone home and now it’s time to kick back, relax and have a beer.

As luck would have it, two of this city’s top restauranteurs have each opened their own beer-heavy establishments in the last month. Here’s what’s on tap:

ensemble Tap
990 Smithe St., 604-566-9770
Top Chef Canada champion Dale McKay launched his first resto, the West End’s ensemble, just this past summer and already he’s opened the doors on his second, ensemble Tap. Belly up to the 40-foot bar or take a seat cafeteria-style in this two-storey, ultra-modern loft-style room just a few doors down from the Scotiabank Theatre. On tap you’ll find 15 different pours including several local micros, Belgian import La Chouffe and the Alberta-brewed house keg, Tap Lager.

Bitter
16 W. Hastings St., 604-558-4658
The king of Gastown, Sean Heather, harkens back to the city’s pre-Prohibition beginnings with Bitter (pictured), the latest jewel in his crown (Irish Heather, Salt Tasting Lounge, Judas Goat). A menu of heat-on-the-spot European pub favourites (think cassoulet, Scotch eggs, and Welsh rarebit) is augmented by a revolving flight of local microbrews on the blackboard and an exhaustive list of bottles, both import and domestic. The decor is turn-of-the-century tile and exposed brick as well as a transparency of historic Hastings Street covering the floor-to-ceiling windows.