Putting Portuguese in the Vancouver picture

Canada Census notes that over 10,000 individuals living in the East Side (Commercial and Victoria Drive) area of Vancouver are of Portuguese descent; so many people yet no visibility. Apart from the staple Joe's Café (1150 Commercial Drive) that boasts both a flag of Portugal and one of Brazil, and the PCOV-Portuguese Club of Vancouver (1144 Commercial Drive) a few doors down, there is no other neighbourhood in the city where a flag or name directly connects to the Portuguese.

Why is that? Why have we, the Portuguese, chosen to hibernate from the view of the rest of Canadian society? I hope someday we can have a good answer to that question, because when I look at the younger generations they seem to be interested and proud of their heritage; therefore, it does not make sense that we are letting it disappear right from our very own view.

The once-noticeably Portuguese neighbourhood of Kingsway is no longer since the closing of various establishments including the popular restaurant, Taste of Portugal. Currently we find the diner-style restaurant of Cinco Estrelas (2268 Kingsway) located in the same plaza where popular Portuguese notary public and real estate agent Mario Cipriano works (2298 Kingsway), but everything else disappeared into another Vietnamese or Chinese business.

Back to Commercial Drive and south of the Broadway area, we find the only travel agency that specializes in trips to Portugal, Star Travel Holidays (2740 Commercial Drive). Around the corner on 12th Avenue is Café Algarve and at the corner of 13th Avenue is the long-standing Latin Food Market. Adding to the mix are the most recent Portuguese establishments-the Portuguese Café (3038 Commercial Drive) and Leiria Café (1997 Commercial Drive).

Hidden on the "old" Commercial strip is Casa Verde (3424 Commercial Street), a restaurant popular for its chicken on the weekends. A good drive away, at 850 Renfrew Street, is the restaurant Senhor Rooster, and the once Portuguese-owned Universal Bakery (3815 Rupert Street) continues to carry some great products and flavours of the old heritage, despite changing management (the business is now run by the Asian family that used to work for the former owners).

Union Food Market (810 Union Street) and Adega Restaurant (1022 Main Street) continue to be two of the most comfortable and truly Portuguese spots in the city. One enters these well-groomed businesses and knows that people care; it feels like the hands of a mother or grandmother were definitely in charge at some point.

When looking for Luso fine dining with class, celebrity chef Manuel Ferreira, of the famous local French restaurant Le Gavroche (1616 Alberni Street) gives us Senova (1864 West 57th Ave). Located just outside Vancouver's downtown culinary hub, the trip is definitely worth it.

So where are the doctors, lawyers and accountants? Many can name Dr. Thomas Kohlgrueber (2929 Commercial Drive), a favourite dentist of the community. Even though he is not Portuguese, he has a staff that makes up for it. Now, where is everyone else? To service a community and a society that yearns for something Portuguese, or provide the option to speak one's mother tongue, we have only these few places to serve us in our great city of Vancouver.

When one surveys the younger generation running businesses, we find multiple real-estate agents, lawyers, and almost any profession one can think of under the sun. Even though these entrepreneurs are not operating businesses that promote the culture of their heritage, they should be very proud nonetheless. Like Eva de Viveiros, who runs three women's clothing and accessories shops in the city, Barefoot Contessa (3715 Main Street at 21st), Barefoot Contessa on The Drive (1928 Commercial Drive) and Lisette (2308 Broadway West), while Lucia Serpa runs her Dona Lucia Esthetics Salon (2813 West Broadway).

Let's keep the spirit and the culture alive. Don't be afraid to be Portuguese in the Canadian mosaic. Isn't that what Canada is all about?

June is Portuguese Heritage month: join the celebrations at www.portuguesemonth.com/ .

For more information about the Portuguese community in Vancouver, visit www.lusitania.ca/ .