Fraser Street between 49th and 50th avenues is already a block to watch. It has a European deli, a source of takeout samosas and Indian desserts, a produce store, a video outlet, and, first sign of a neighbourhood on the grow, a branch of That Coffee Chain. What more could you want? Try a gallery, gelateria, new eatery, and the only place I know of in town that does Israeli cuisine.

A restaurant showing works by local artists isn't a new idea, but it's a bright one: décor, exposure everyone wins. Shashuka, which opened in late May, goes one better, sectioning off the long counter home to umpteen house-made gelati and takeout salads from the dining area with a double-sided showcase that holds locally crafted necklaces, earrings, and chachkas.

The art, which pretty much fills the walls of the dining room, is a democratic mix of everything from huge wood carvings to glittering pieces assembled from road diamonds. A big skylight is framed with "ivy" and the light wood tables have smart, black iron bases. To find this on south Fraser Street is, to say the least, a surprise.

Owner and manager Moti Grinhut used to run restaurants in his native Israel, and there are, indeed, Israeli dishes on the menu, such as the signature shashuka, but it's more international than that. Chef Alfred Fan formerly cooked at Wild Garlic, so you find garlic-rosemary lamb shanks, and also duck confit with sour cherries, steaks in three sizes, burgers (veg, regular, and buffalo), Thai prawns, poutine, yam fries, and more. The vibe is not that he can't make up his mind, but more "What do Vancouverites like to eat?"

Twenty-two salads are arrayed in dishes along the counter ($1.50 per 100 grams), and each comes with plain or whole-wheat pita: tangy yam, cauliflower-chickpea, spicy bean and nut–interesting salads. So far, I've taken home a yam version and the spicy, unctuous eggplant-and-tomato to round out a family brunch. They went in a flash.

Shashuka starts with a bed of tomatoes, onions, and red and green peppers simmered together long enough to get friendly but not so long that they turn into pasta sauce. Two fried eggs go on top, then a blanket of grated cheese before it all goes under the grill so that the rectangular dish comes to the table red-hot, with the cheese freckled and bubbling.

It's as good as it sounds, and like all the breakfast dishes served here, such as a herbed omelette and various egg combos, it comes with a raft of accoutrements: a fried mashed-potato cake; a mixed salad of chopped red peppers, onions, and cucumbers; a zippy avocado dip, like an extra-lemony guacamole; and a yogurt-based cheese spread. The two last are meant to stand in for jam on your (unbuttered) whole-wheat toast; Grinhut tries to eliminate fat where he can.

Shish kebabs in some form or another show up in almost every eastern Mediterranean country. We rather, my husband picked Turkish. One skewer wouldn't be enough, he thought in his manly way, so he ordered two. They were big, each about the size of a large sausage and a half, the ground beef mixed with onions, herbs and spices, and roughly chopped walnuts, then impaled and grilled to give them flavour and deep-brown tire tracks.

Big, fat French fries. Ketchup and a dip of probably half-and-half mustard and mayo on request. Nice. You also get soup. This particular night's, rich with meat chunks and shiitake mushrooms, tasted truly homemade, as though its base had been exceptionally good gravy.

You get your pick of a salad, too. The server suggested curried coleslaw, red and green cabbage, raisins again, good. The only sad part was we didn't have room for gelato.

My notes are butter-stained from Labour Day, when I fell victim to the butteriest of breakfast pastries, warm from the oven and loaded with pecans and a brown-sugar, caramelly gooeyness, but I can make out other reasons I jotted down to stop in here: fresh juices, slushies, wireless Internet, friendly, competent service, a menu that reads, "Always fresh, always good, always [a] smile", which is totally true. Shashuka is $7.50, lamb shank is $20, and servings are generous. They're working on getting a liquor licence and going back to their original 24-hour opening.