PATRONA and Company’s
shades, cards, candles and
ing popular with collectors.

Wesi

Bob Mackin
News Reporter

SEEWALL Gallery is
like a quiet oasis among
the hustle and bustle of
West Vancouver’s main

thoroughfare.

But the — one-year-old
gallery is not a high-brow
enclave, says its manager Brian
Becker.

Becker says Seewall’s phi-
losophy is simple: “To have
good, contsmpo-
rary art that can
still be commer-
cial,” he says,

“Some pieces
are there just
more for — the
enjoyment of peo-
ple, but we have a
little bit = mere
approachable and
leisurely — atmos-
phere.:So many people will
not come into galleries.~

Buz they will comme into
Seewall, he adds, to see its dis-
play of upbeat art.

“We leave the in-your-face
stuff to other galleries,” he
says.

Seewall beasts pieces large
and small. Not all are affixed to
the wall.

Whimsical, cartoon-like fig-
urines by Elaine Brewer-White
dot the two-storey gallery. And
then there’s Peter Kiss’ sculp-
tures.

The West Vancouver artist
launches a 10-day showing of
his latest work Thursday night

Evelyn Amar

has lamp-
tiny shoes that are prov-

at Seewall to celebrate che
Jaunch of his first hardcover
book.

“Not a lor of gaileries do
the sculptural side,” Becker
says. “We're quite happy to.”

Spicy dishes

Slowly, but surely, Yomi’s
Sushi and Noodle House is
turning West Vancouverites on
to the splendors of Korean
food,

The eatery sells a wide
assortment of sushi and other
Japanese delicacies, bue the

main dishes are primarily

Korean, And
they're spicy.

“We don’t

carry a9 much

sushi,” says

waitress Jenean

Kim. “We are

into — oriental

foods, noodles and

meats. We find a lot of

Canadians are into spicy

foods, and Korean food is

mostly spicy.”

Yomi’s opened three years
ago. Don't go in asking for
Yomi, though. The restaurant’s
monicker is actually a contrac-
tion of its owners’ middle
names: Yongsung and Misun.

Bean going worldwide

To West Vancouverites with
a taste for coffee, it’s simply
called “the Bean”.

Bean Around the World has
been serving-up java and an
assortment of snacks for nine
years. And it’s actually living
up to its name. Bean Around

nortn shore news

& BUSINESS

NEWS photo Julie iverson

YONGSUNG Kim ({ieft) and Jenean Kim serve
Japanese and Korean dishes at Yomi’s Sushi and
Noodle House. Jenean Kim says Yomi’s Korean food

iz gaining popularity.

the World products and_ its
identity are being licensed
around the world.

The cafe expanded to south
Granville, West 10th Avenue
and downtown Victoria over
the past few years. Now
“Bean” beans are showing up
overseas in Asia and Europe.
But the original Bean is the
best, according to Tegan
Forbes and Deanna Dwyer.

“Lats of people just get cof-
fee and hang out here, and we
have a deck,” says Forhes, one
of the Bean's managers.

ancouver Bus:

“It’s not a formula,” adds
Dwyer, a barista. “If vou go
into Starbucks they all look
nice and homey and cosy, but
they're still, = manufactured
goods.”

Forbes says the eclectic
atmosphere and mix of inter-
esting customers and staff are
part of the Bean's secret of
success.

“Ie’s really customer-ori-
ented,” Forbes says. “We have
all these pictures of customers
on the wall. They go away on
vacation and take pictures and

Wednesday, July 7, 1999 — North Shore News - 15

ibs

SEEWALL Gallery's Brian Becker admires some of
the art at the Marine Drive gallery. Seewali displays a
variety of sculptures aiong with paintings.

send it back.”

There’s even a phote of a
kangaroo licking a Bean
Around the World mug,
Dwyer says.

Big selection of tiny shoes

Patrona_is the Spanish
word for female boss, says
Evelyn Amar. And that’s her
position with Patrona and
Company Decorative Acces-
sories.

The store is four-and-a-
half years old, bur Amar has
been in the giftware business

NEWS phato Julie Iverson

BEAN Around the World’s Deanna Dwyer (left) and Tegan Forbes serve coffee and
snacks at the nine-year-old Marine Drive cafe. It’s better known to many West
Vancouverites as “the Bean”.

GOrh Buy 1 Get't FREE

adults’
Babies.”

. * Commercial Avenues isa bi-

- monthly feature of the North

nesses offer variety

for 18 vears.

“I love what Ido, buy
what ifike,” Amar — says.
“Fortun-ately, the customers
do, too.”

Amar sells an eclectic mix ;
of locally made and overseas -
imported ast and pottery. The
merchandise changes season- «
ally. :
“When I get bored with
something, i-like to change it.
If I wouldn’t buy it for myself -
to give someone as a gift, Pd
never buy it.”

Among Patrona’s featured
items are a selection of minia-
ture pottery shoes. Patrona
has so much of the tiny
footwear that former
Phillipines first lady/shoc col-
lector Imelda Marcos would
be ecstatic.

“They come in singles and
go from $7.95 to $36.99,
ladies and men. These are the °
answer to Beanie %

‘Shore News’ business section, =,
While it is by no means a com- :

“prehensive guide to any of the i :

Za)

areas it focuses on, it seeks to cap- ©
ture @ snapshot of the day-to-day *
life of businesses selected at ran- -
dom that call the street home. If
you bave a business that is part -
ofa unique or otherwise worth-
while block, or know of any, .
please share it with us. Write to

Commercial Avenues, c/o Bob :
Mackin, North Shove News, -.

_ 1139 Lonsdale Ave... North

Vancouver V7M 2H4, E-mail
srobert@nsnews.com> .

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