Our Valentine’s Day Treat! #happyvalent

Our Valentine’s Day Treat! #happyvalentinesday http://ow.ly/i/szRp

Dear Giovane @facebook fans, we will soo

Dear Giovane @facebook fans, we will soon amalgamate our fan page with @fairmontpacific. Be sure to keep in touch here: http://ow.ly/79LII

hiatus, no more!

Hello there! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Have you missed us as much as we’ve missed you?

Pardon our brief hiatus recently as we’ve undergone some big changes. Namely, our wine bar! Forty wine labels are served nightly by the glass through our Enomatic Wine Serving System customized for Giovane Cafe + Wine Bar from Italy (wines also sold by the bottle). Our new hours are listed below:

Monday – Saturday: 6am to 10pm (wine bar opens and table service begins at 5pm)
Sunday: 6am-7pm (no wine bar)

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Are you a delegate at the #SIGGRAPH convention? If so, please read below. We thought we’d give some tips on how to figure us out, especially if you’re visiting us at the cafe for the first time.

The cafe is shaped like an “L”. On the long end is the coffee bar and on the short end is the deli. You’re more than welcome to order anything at either end (order coffee at the deli or order food from the coffee bar)! All coffee orders are to be picked up at the coffee bar under the yellow sign. If ever the line is too long on one end, feel free to pop on over to the other end of the cafe and we would be more than happy to take your order right away.

We hope this helps you enjoy your first or next visit to Giovane Cafe + Wine Bar and the Fairmont Pacific Rim!

wine bar opening soon!

WINE BAR

June 2011

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Giovane Cafe will be transforming into a wine bar at 4pm from Monday to Saturday starting late June 2011. The wine bar will boast a 60 label wine list as well as cheese and charcuterie plates for pairing. For our cafe enthusiasts, have no fear! The cafe’s coffee bar and deli will still be open for your caffeine and pizza fix

We cannot wait for you to try what we have to offer. In the mean time, come visit us at 1038 Canada Place (direct entry to the cafe is on Cordova Street). See you soon : )

introducing barista, mark wu.

If there is one word to describe Mark, it is “passionate”. He has passion for guest service, the quality of each coffee that goes out, the speediness of each order, and the overall experience for each guest in Giovane. He is the cafe’s supervisor and, as our colleague, Parker, described him, is like Batman. He does anything and everything he can to make our cafe the cafe to go to for both quality of food and coffee as well as service. World, meet Batman Mark Wu. Batman Mark Wu, meet the world.

1. First Kitchen Job: where and when?
   Starbucks, where I learned the basics of coffee.
2. What drew you to Giovane?
   Too many things – pastries made in-house in our pastry kitchen, Italian-style deli (pizza and panini), latte art and our coffee (roasted specially for Giovane by 49th Parallel)
3. What is your favourite pizza, panini, and pastry in the cafe?
   Pizza: This is a tough one. I would have to go with Diavola or our weekly pizza special – it’s always a good surprise!
   Panini: Charcuterie
   Pastry: Chocolate Zeppole
4. Favourite foodie spots in Vancouver?
   Hapa Izakaya, Motomachi Ramen, Landmark hotpot for their late-night seafood congee.
5. Did you go to school for hospitality or were you pulled in by interest?
   Yes, finished off my degree in UBC and went on to obtain a diploma from Vancouver Premier College.
6. What is your favourite part about working in the cafe?
   Being a full on cafe within a high-end hotel, we get the chance to be casually creative and formal at the same time. Every day is different, every day we get to interact with different types of people from local work force to people around the world.
7. Dream country to visit based on food – describe/list the foods you’d like and, if you’d like, the regions you’d like to get it from.
   Anywhere with good rack of lamb, steak and fresh sashimi.
8. Last meal?
   I would have to start off with some buffalo wings followed it with rack of lamp with lemon dijon crust and drizzled with balsamic reduction, steak covered in satueed mushrooms, asparagus with butter. Fresh lobster sashimi, mirugai sashimi (geoduck) and uni (sea urchin) and finished it off wit ha pint of beer.
9. What food/flavours do you not like?
   Not a whole lot, off the top of my head, bitter gourd, bleu cheese/goat cheese, and licorice.
10. What do you want people to know most about the food we serve at Giovane?
    We are a liquor licensed cafe. We come up with specialty drinks made from a variety of spirits every month!

weekend reading :: towards an ethical architecture

towards an ethical structure: issues within the work of Gregory Henriquez

Towards an Ethical Architecture: Issues within the work of Gregory Henriquez is exceptional. Vancouver has been touted to be the most livable city in the world and we believe it is because of individuals like Mr. Gregory Henriquez, of Henriquez Partners Architects, who are passionate about not just the form and function of a structure and space but how the aesthetics and the ethics of the project give way to community development.

Towards an Ethical Architecture: Issues within the work of Gregory Henriquez is available at Giovane Cafe.

weekend reading :: fashion decor – new interiors for concept shops

fashion decor: new interiors for concept shoes

Some say shoes are a girl’s best friend.
Some might even say books are a girl’s best friend.

Fashion Decor is the perfect combination of all things wonderful in design and fashion. Flip through and enjoy images of fashion in stores that are works of art themselves accompanied with snippets of the space’s design.

Fashion Decor is available at Giovane Cafe.

weekend reading :: body heat – the story of the woodward’s redevelopment

When you’re driving down Dundas Street from East Vancouver, or across the Georgia Street Viaduct into the downtown core, the one thing that will catch your eye and hug your heart a little bit with its history in Vancouver, is the big red W that marks where the Woodward’s building is located.

Body Heat: The Story of the Woodward's Redevelopment

Body Heat tells the story of the Woodward’s redevelopment from intention to execution and everything in-between. Situated right on the edge of Gastown and the Downtown Eastside, the redevelopment of the iconic Woodward’s building has boosted spirits, traffic and business in the neighbourhood. The multi-use buildings allow inclusivity that was not possible before the redevelopment and the livelihood of the community can be felt as you walk through the property. Body Heat is a fantastic read – full of images, history, and a great story.

From the book’s insert:
Body Heat illustrates a community’s capacity to integrate the poetic and ethical dimensions of existence. The intention of the project and the book is to give meaningful expression to people’s daily struggles for survival and orientation, explore the partnerships needed to realize a larger social mission, and challenge today’s architects to build beautiful cities for all citizens.

weekend reading :: room for passion by fairmont pacific rim

We, at Giovane Cafe, are extremely proud to be a part of Vancouver’s iconic Fairmont Pacific Rim. In Room for Passion, published by the hotel’s developers, Westbank and Peterson Group, and Fairmont Pacific Rim, you are welcomed to not just enjoy the images in the following pages but to visit the hotel itself.

We invite you to pick up a copy at the cafe, sit down, and enjoy a coffee as you read through. Once you are done, take a walk! The sun has been friendly and our staff are more so This is an amazing architectural structure, and only a year old, already has a great story behind it. We would love to share it with you.

Room for Passion is available at Giovane Cafe.

merchandise madness :: yellow owl workshop

We recently received products from San Francisco’s Yellow Owl Workshop.

The Yellow Owl Workshop, run by Christine Schmidt and Evan Gross, creates hand-made paper products, as well as various items for your home. These eco-friendly products are made on recycled paper with non-toxic water-based ink. Yellow Owl Workshop also creates custom products. Products include cards for every day and holidays postcards, stamp sets, ceramics, pendants, and more.

Some of the Yellow Owl Workshop items Giovane currently carries are:

Cards

Love Is All

bonjour

Stamp Sets

city scape set

italy set

Pendants

air water pendant

owl shield pendant