The Spotlight is a series of interviews with the craft beer heroes behind local organizations who are helping grow the beer scene in our fine city. Bestie is a new hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Chinatown that serves German-style sausages and local craft beer. We chatted to owners Clinton and Dane about starting up a beer & sausage parlour.
How long have you been around?
Bestie opened on June 17, 2013. Almost exactly nine months ago.
How would you explain Bestie to the uninitiated?
Bestie is a friendly little sausage and beer parlour located in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Inspired by German street food, we serve up a selection of finely crafted sausages, crispy fries, tasty side salads, fresh baked pretzels, and Chinatown’s finest currywurst. We work with master butchers, whole ingredients, and sustainably raised meats. We have four curated taps of local beer, some odd German bottles, both colours of wine, and a storied selection of schnapps. Not to mention homemade iced tea and fancy soda pops.
Tell us more about the chaps behind Bestie.
We are Clinton McDougall and Dane Brown, friends and business partners with a shared passion for food, drink, and people. We met while working together at a local design studio and recognized a shared spirit in one another. After batting around many ideas for businesses and “wouldn’t it be cool” projects we decided to quit our jobs and take the entrepreneurial leap. Bestie is our first restaurant and our first business.
Bestie started up with the help of crowdfunding. Can you tell me how this helped kick start the business, both financially and in terms of spreading awareness?
Our crowdfunding campaign was really our introduction to the people of Vancouver. We wanted to raise some money to help with the cost of opening the restaurant but we didn’t want to ask for donations so we decided to sell “Magic Sausage Cards”, which were basically gift cards that could be used at Bestie once we opened. We made a video that explained who we were and what we were trying to do and set what we felt was an achievable goal: to raise $10,000 in 30 days. We launched the campaign and, to our delight, it kind of went viral. We ended up hitting our goal in only 5 days and went on to raise almost $16,000. The money was certainly helpful but the biggest benefit was that the campaign helped us gather a community of hundreds of supporters and future customers well before the doors were even open!
What sparked the idea to set up a sausage and beer parlour?
While working at the design studio, part of our jobs involved travelling together so we got to share great food experiences from other cities and cultures We had both been to Germany, and loved the food, but it wasn’t until we shared a currywurst in Los Angeles that the idea was sparked to open a sausage and beer joint in Vancouver. We realized that, as North Americans, we live in a sausage deprived society.
What beers do you have on tap?
Our small but mighty tap list is always changing and we try to stick to only local craft selections that complement our food while maintaining a spectrum of flavours. No small task with just 4 taps to fill and so much great beer available in our area.
The current line up is:
Coal Harbour 311 Helles Lager
Driftwood Farmhand Saison
33 Acres of Ocean Pale Ale
Hoyne Dark Matter
Does beer find its way into any of your cooking?
Most of our food is designed to go well with beer rather than contain it as an ingredient. That said, beer does find its way into some of our sausages, occasionally a soup, and the secret recipe for our house made sweet Bavarian mustard certainly calls for beer.
What’s your favourite brew right now?
Dane – I just tried the Stockholm Syndrome Saison from Brassneck on Tuesday and I was really into it.
Clinton – Four Winds Pilsner can often be found in my fridge at home right now.
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Bestie is located at 105 East Pender (at Columbia). They have daily specials, so check out their Facebook or Twitter for updates or go check out their website here.
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