Saturday, July 29, 2023

The Back Alleys of Kerrisdale

Early for a dinner last night at Minerva's with another former Kerrisdaler who remembers the restaurant so we decided to meet there. Not sure what I was expecting, as Minerva's was never a place anyone I knew associated with great meals.

The CBC's Stephen Quinn raves about it; the actor Ryan Reynold's named it his "favourite restaurant in the world." Does that account for why the place is a zoo of families-with-grannys and middle-aged singles? And since when did it take over the Big Scoop beside it?

"When was the last time you were here?" asks our server.

"Forty years ago," I tell her. "Over garlic bread and a bottle of Mateus."

Like I said, I was early, so rather than walk up and down 41st in the blazing 5pm sun I opted for the shadier lane just south of it. From Larch to West Boulevard. Three blocks. I saw the backs of things I'd only known the front of.

Here is the back of one of the neighbourhood's oldest shops, the Kerrisdale Bootery:


Here is the back of Hager Books:


The back of the Masonic Hall (which, as I recall, does not have a front):



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