Local Business Highlight: Archer Dining

Located in the heart of Vancouver on Alberni Street, Archer Dining is a restaurant home to elevated modern Canadian cuisine that encapsulates rich and exciting flavours, all in an atmosphere that owners Iain Bell and Karen Ho have carefully curated to be warm and welcoming to all.

Iain and Karen wanted to open a restaurant that offered people an elevated dining experience in an environment that was warm and welcoming to all, a combination they felt was difficult to find within upscale downtown. Thus, their dream came to be through Archer Dining. Archer’s menu is described as modern Canadian West Coast cuisine, featuring a fantastic selection of food and drinks that “highlight the bounty of the region’s talented farmers, fisherfolk, and producers, all while celebrating the diverse cultures and flavours of Canada”. Iain and Karen’s seasonally adapted menus definitely succeed at showcasing the diverse and freshest flavours of each season, taking you through an immersive experience of seasonality in cuisine. Their fall menu, which launched in mid-September, features selections they are excited to share with you such as the Bone Marrow Gratin, or Venison Tartare on top of a deep fried bread. At Archer, you can enjoy breakfast and lunch (Friday through Sunday 10am-3pm), dinner (Monday through Sunday 5pm-11pm), and even Happy Hour (Monday through Sunday 3pm-5pm).

There are also some popular dishes that remain on the menu mostly year-round, like their Uni And Lardo (local red uni with guanciale and burgundy truffle, on a house-made brioche!), a unique and popular must-try, or their Smoked Oysters which will still be nicely smoking from the bowl when they arrive at your table. An additional highlight of the Smoked Oysters is that while it stays on Archer’s menu year-round, Iain and Karen adjust the seasoning and flavours of the dish seasonally, so you can experience a unique twist on these flavourful oysters every season you stop by! 

Iain and Karen value having regulars, and are passionate about connecting with their customers. While there are times restaurant owners have much to oversee and take care of throughout the day, Iain and Karen make an effort to check in with customers themselves. You can find them giving warm greetings to customers, and even jumping in to help serve dishes or washing glasses on particularly busy days! They find it so rewarding to see people enjoy the food, the drinks, and the atmosphere with one another, and are constantly looking for ways to ensure their customers have the best experience every time. They love growing relationships with their customers through trust and familiarity, and fondly liken the social culture of their restaurant to that of Cheers - where everyone knows one another by name and knows they will always be well received. Iain and Karen recognize that everyone deserves wonderful opportunities to sit down and dine, and enjoy moments of connection with loved ones over delicious meals and drinks.  

If you have always wanted to experience fine dining coupled with a cozy feel, plan your next downtown adventure to include a stop at Archer Dining on Alberni Street, and know that you will be warmly welcomed!