After more than a decade of international acclaim, co-writing credits with some of the biggest names in music, and hundreds of millions of streams with his Juno Award-winning band Marianas Trench, multi-talented musician Josh Ramsay released his highly-anticipated debut solo album today.
In addition to playing every instrument (except horns) on The Josh Ramsay Show, Ramsay’s 18-track album features a wide range of genres along with a number of all-star collaborations with artists such as Serena Ryder, Fefe Dobson, and Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger.
Throughout the album, Ramsay takes listeners on musical adventure through instrumental interludes, dynamic vocals, and a cinematic narrative that—despite the variation of sound—comes together to complete a captivating story arch.
As a culinary graduate with an affinity for his local food and beverage scene, we decided to ask the talented multi-instrumentalist to share a few of his favourite spots to eat and drink in his hometown of Vancouver.
Breakfast
Aphrodite’s Organic Cafe & Pie Shop. All organic, locally sourced seasonal ingredients. Lots of interesting items including absolutely epic bison sausage, the most perfect French Canadian tourtiere, and choice items from their sister bakery.
Try the pies, and the chocolate beet cake might actually give you an orgasm. They also do a freshly squeezed mimosa bar (my go-to is blueberry). The ambiance is whacky, featuring local art and paper mache versions of people. There was one of me at one point, which was off-putting.
Lunch
Kozac in Gastown. Upscale versions of rustic Ukrainian dishes. If you’ve ever had perogies anywhere else, you’re doing it wrong. The big standout for me was the concept of dessert perogies.
Why not take cherry pie filling and put it in perogies? Brilliant. Also, currently all the urinals in the men’s room feature a laminated picture of Putin’s face, mouth open, with a target drawn in his mouth, where the urinal cakes should be.
Dinner
[Vij’s is] Progressive Indian at its finest. The flavours are unmistakably Indian, but there are no classic dishes. It’s all new dishes created by the two head chefs and owners.
While you won’t find butter chicken, you will find all new delights, and you’ll probably be greeted by Vikram Vij himself, the genius behind the menu. For my wedding anniversary, he personally curated an entire menu specifically for us and left me a signed copy of his latest cookbook.
Drinks
The Shameful Tiki Room. Hands down the best drinking experience in the city. The windows are blacked out, and inside you’re transported to a 60's tiki bar in the South Pacific with the sounds of ukuleles. Full pageantry like fake thunderstorms when you order certain drinks, “mystery bowls,” where you have no idea what you’re ordering, beach food, dancing girls in grass skirts.
If Disneyland made an area for adults only, this would be it. The only downside is it’s small, the rum drinks are stiff, and they only do reservations before 6 or 7. So it’s very likely you hit your limit only to leave and discover it’s still light outside. To quote my band mate, Matt Webb, “that’s the most fun bar in the city, and I’ve never left without puking.”
