If you haven’t been getting out and about as much as you used to due to the pandemic, here’s a quick overview of some eateries that have opened in Vancouver over the past months, including two plant-oriented spots and a West Coast-meets-Asian cuisine restaurant in East Vancouver.

Plant-powered places

Being healthy has been on everyone’s mind during the pandemic.

But staying healthy has been a challenge for many due to concerns about transmission or the closure of fitness facilities, not to mention the loss of everyday activity—such as walking, climbing stairs, or other movements—for those who changed to heading to the office to working from home.

Eating healthy has also been a concern.

However, some health-oriented eateries have opened up over the past few months that have increased availability of options in various parts of the city.

Among them have been Turf, which opened its second location at 1281 West Georgia Street in Coal Harbour. Along with a fitness studio, it also offers a bistro and coffee bar.

Its menu—which offers vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options—includes smoothies, salads, burgers, bowls, toasts, baked goods, and more.

There’s everything from the Turf Energy Smoothie—with spinach, kales, parsley, banana, date, almond butter, hemp seed, cinnamon, and coconut water—to the Harvest Bowl—with acorn squash, broccoli, and sautéed greens with mushroom miso gravy on wild rice—to the wild sockeye salmon burger with avocado and greens.

There are also brunch items like the Buenos Dias, offering a mix of scrambled tofu, sautéed greens, avocado, black beans, pickled vegetables, corn tortillas, salsa, and more; or the Potato Benny, in which a poached egg, sautéed greens, roasted tomatoes, and pickled onion sit atop a crispy potato pancake while covered in vegan cashew hollandaise.

Meanwhile, another health-oriented spot is on the way.

Local salad chain Field and Social—which offers a selection of hearty salads as well as soup and snacks—is preparing to open its fourth location, this time in Yaletown.

The new 1,445-square-foot location at 1030 Mainland Street, which was planned for before the pandemic hit, has been undergoing construction.

It’s being designed by the Janks Design Group, and built by Harmony Pacific—with the conditions of the pandemic in mind.

“We’re definitely cognizant of how the pandemic impacts in-dining, and we’ve adjusted some design elements to ensure all precautions have been met,” Field and Social owner Barbora Samieian explained in a news release. “We’ve also made pre-ordering and pick-up very easy at our locations, and will continue this at Yaletown.”

New culinary director Stewart Boyles will oversee the menu.

Field and Social is aiming to open the new spot, which will have a seating capacity for 15 people, by mid-December. Its other locations are in Downtown Vancouver (one on Dunsmuir and another in Royal Centre) and Mount Pleasant.

East meets West Coast

Although this East Van eatery at 2270 Commercial Drive (in the former location of tapas restaurant Cabrito) had its soft opening in the spring, it finally held its official opening on October 19.

Vietnamese-born and locally raised chef Hung Nguyen, who has worked throughout the local food scene for a decade, brings his Asian-influenced approach to West Coast cuisine, drawing upon organic ingredients.

For starters, there’s papaya salad in a pickled ginger vinaigrette; cognac chicken liver pâté with crostini and cranberry chutney; and crispy chicken wings coated in chilli flakes, garlic, and jalapeño.

Main dishes include sockeye salmon stuffed with artichoke; a vegan tofu bowl with garlic-soy-glazed organic tofu, roasted mushrooms, and a mix of greens and vegetables.

There are also brunch items such as the Surf ’N Turf Breakfast Bowl, with sliced sirloin, shrimp, duck-fat-fried hashbrowns, poached eggs, and more; and the mushroom benny, with two poached eggs, roasted mushroom, beet caviar, tomato, and green pea purée in a truffle Hollandaise sauce with hashbrowns.

The drink menu offers non-alcoholic beverages, seasonal beers, highballs, and cocktails, including the Strawberry Watermelon Mojito, Pink Peppercorn Cosmopolitan, and the Saigon Caesar.

During the pandemic, the restaurant has a seating capacity for 18 patrons, in addition to a covered and heated street-front patio. It's open for brunch, lunch, and dinner, and full details are available its website.