At Viewpoint Vancouver we never advertise restaurants and businesses and it is true we get no recompense for telling you about the fabulous food at our hidden gems, The Northern Cafe and the Fraser Park Restaurant, both tucked away in Vancouver industrial areas.
But we like making exceptions for businesses that do the unexpected, and the Viewpoint Vancouver STAR award (for Seeing Trouble And Responding) goes to the Wallflower Diner at 2420 Main Street.
During the start of the Covid pandemic, bus drivers had a particularly hard time finding places to use washrooms. When the shutdown commenced in March, 2020, there was still not a lot of information out about the Covid-19 virus, and many businesses were hesitant to allow the use of their washrooms by people other than their own clients.
This vegetarian/vegan diner opened up their washroom to the public, and indeed ADVERTISED that they had a washroom available on Main Street with no questions asked during the pandemic when everything else was closed.
Owners Heather Szilagyi and Eric Neilson opened up their washroom early in the pandemic, as Miranda Fatur reports in CityNews.
These are the kind of business people we all need to support. It’s not easy to open up your washroom and Covid protocols require a lot of extra maintenance in those areas. This city does not provide public washrooms anywhere in urban places where it would just make sense for people in the downtown who are seniors, who are vulnerable, who have children, or just plainly need to use the facilities.
But the Wallflower Diner does. And for the month of November the cafe is featuring the art of one of the owner, Heather Szilagyi . She’s a fan of Canadian actor Rick Moranis and has produced a variety of paintings featuring Mr. Moranis.
Mr. Moranis is perhaps better known for playing Bob in SCTV’s Bob and Doug Mckenzie skit. Doug was played by Dave Thomas. Mr. Moranis went on to have a Hollywood career, including a career in the film Ghostbusters.
While the Wallflower Diner is featuring the art all month, there is a special gala opening on Saturday November 13 at 8 p.m. at the cafe.
The Bob and Doug Mckenzie Show first aired in 1980 and quickly became a Canadian icon. This clip featuring the actors in a Barbara Frum interview and also has some street scenes of the Hoser Parade on Yonge Street,Toronto four decades ago.
