The team behind one of Mount Pleasant’s favourite tapas bars is taking the neighbourhood back to Spain, this time to its rugged northern coast.
Como Ultramar is a new seafood restaurant coming to 592 East Broadway, from the founders of the award-winning Spanish tapas bar Como Taperia.
Shaun Layton and Frankie Harrington plan to open the spot this winter, built around live-fire cooking and the seafood traditions of Northern Spain.
“Ultramar is inspired by the places Frankie and I travel to often during our annual trips to Spain,” Layton said.
He points to the seaside towns of the Basque Country, Cantabria, and Galicia, alongside the old-school seafood bars of Madrid, the playful seafood restaurants of Barcelona, and the tabernas of Cadiz.
The cooking will center on charcoal.
“Think whole fish over fire, Basque-style, with the best seafood we can source locally and from afar,” Layton said.
The stated philosophy is restraint: simple classic dishes and strong ingredients executed with technique, plus what the team calls a few surprises pulled from their favourite rooms in Spain.
The space carries some history of its own.
Como Ultramar is moving into the Faber Block, a building originally constructed in 1926 and once known as The Carolina, whose past tenants included a confectionery shop, Black and White Grocery, and Seb’s Cafe.
The restaurant will run about 2,500 square feet, with a dining room and a mezzanine on the second level.
The kitchen brings some pedigree.
Chef-partner Daniel Kim spent nearly a decade at the award-winning Boulevard, rising to chef de cuisine, and holds the 2018 Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship and a 2021 RC Show Garland Competition title.
This is a step up in ambition from the tapas bar rather than a copy of it.
Where Taperia trades in small plates and a busy bar, Ultramar is a seafood-focused dining room built around fire, which is a very different night out on the same stretch of Broadway.
The team is heading back to Spain in September to develop the menu before the winter launch.
No firm opening date has been set beyond the season.
Como Ultramar joins other upcoming Vancouver food spots like Earnest Ice Cream at Granville Island, Mello’s new West End location, and Krave Kulture in Coal Harbour.
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Address: 592 East Broadway, Vancouver BC