Noted restaurateur and sometime TV celeb, Vikram Vij
lauds his city by sheri radford
Vikram Vij welcomes
all to Vij’s Restaurant,
which recently relocated from its longtime home on South
Granville to a dazzling
larger room on Cambie
Street. The sparklingly
elegant new restaurant
sports a jewellery boxinspired decor
28
When Vikram Vij first set foot in Vancouver, it was
love at first sight. The congenial chef, renowned for
his string of award-winning restaurants and appearances on Dragons’ Den, had learned his trade in some
of the finest establishments in Austria and Banff, but
he was lured by the West Coast’s mild climate and
lush greenness. He moved here in the early 1990s
and started working for culinary luminaries such as
Harry Kambolis and John Bishop, who encouraged
him to open his own place. “But John,” Vij recalls saying, “everyone wants butter chicken.”
Vij couldn’t shake the dream of opening a restaurant that served modern Indian cuisine, but the
venture capitalists didn’t think Vancouverites were
ready. Vij describes a dejected phone call to his father
in India, lamenting that no one would lend him the
$23,000 he needed. He chokes up recounting what
happened next: Vij’s father produced the money,
declaring to his son, “Go fulfil your dreams.”
The investment was obviously a sound one,
because Vij now owns a string of hotspots: Vij’s,
which serves modern Indian dishes; My Shanti,
described as “Bollywood meets White Rock;” Rangoli,
a lunch spot; and Vij’s Railway Express, a food cart.
Next in the works is a makeover for his original
restaurant on Granville Street, currently an event
space. When asked why each place is so different, Vij
responds matter-of-factly, “It’s like having children.
Why would you want to have five children that are
all exactly the same?” He also produces a line of
E SS E N T I A L VA N CO U V ER 20 16 / 1 7
ready-to-eat meals, called Vij’s at Home. Despite his
ever-expanding workload, Vij says, “If Justin Trudeau
can run a country at the age of 44, Vikram Vij can
run a small empire at the age of 49 or 50.”
His dining awards keep accumulating, but those
aren’t Vij’s greatest achievement. That honour is
reserved for his two daughters, whose photo is tattooed on his arm. “They finally got under my skin,”
he says with an impudent grin. He’s also extremely
proud of an honorary PhD from Simon Fraser
University and an honorary law degree from the
University of British Columbia, explaining, “This is
about what you have done in the community.”
Vancouver has clearly stolen Vij’s heart. He praises
the dining scene, naming Hawksworth, The Pear
Tree, Bao Bei, Maenam, Bauhaus and Cactus Club
as favourites. He loves strolling along the seawall,
exploring Granville Island, and shopping in the
boutiques of Main Street and the name-brand stores
of South Granville. The man known for his impeccably flamboyant taste in clothing frequents Boboli,
Eugene Choo, Gravity Pope and Bruce Eyewear.
For his eye-catching Indian garments, he heads to
Sunny’s Bridal Gallery in Surrey.
When asked what the future holds, Vij pauses for
a moment to contemplate.