Stir Pairing Eastside Culture Crawl edition: Where to find a special craft beer and nostalgic snacks during the fest
We’re hitting Strange Fellows Brewing and the Drive Canteen over the festival’s open-studio weekend
Billy Would Design’s Skateboard Ring Pops are made of recycled skateboards.
Strange Fellows Brewing’s Civitas beer, photo by Nick Miller; spicy loaded nachos and tricked-out hot dogs from the Drive Canteen, photo by Rich Won.
Every week, Stir Pairing suggests BC drink and food to go with a local arts event.
The event
Eastside Culture Crawl
The food
The Drive Canteen
The drink
Strange Fellows Brewing’s Civitas
The lowdown
Adea Chung is a self-taught artist who focuses on sustainability and who named her company, Billy Would Designs, after her daughter.
One of the most hotly anticipated arts events in the city is here, with the Eastside Culture Crawl’s open-studio festival running to November 21. Entry is first-come, first-served; appointments are not required. Check out the Crawl map to plan out your urban art adventure.
One of our stops will be at Shady Acres Artist Studios, a wheelchair accessible former funeral home with a giant pink bear on the roof. Ten artists will be on-site, including first-time Crawler Adea Chung. The founder of Billy Would Designs, Chung uses wood—specifically, recycled skateboards and discarded offcuts—to create earrings, rings, necklaces, belt buckles, key chains, cufflinks and more.
The food
You’re going to need to stay fuelled while you make your way from one art studio to the next. From the founders of DL Chicken along with urban-streetwear entrepreneur Zach Wilcox comes the Drive Canteen. Sweet, savoury, nostalgic, and tricked-out treats by local purveyors take centrestage here—next to the hybrid shop’s collection of kicks, hoodies, and Ts and the forthcoming “curated urban art hub”, which will feature works by local artists.
On the menu are items like house-made spiced nachos, pizza pockets, spicy dill pickles, milkshakes, Orange Crush slushies, and various steamed hot dogs, from Chicago-style to a Japanese-inspired frank with with wasabi mayo, bulldog tonkatsu sauce, and crispy shallots.
Then there are Jamaican patties by Elbo Patties, dumplings from Dicky’s Dump; Beta5 chocolate bars, Scarlito’s Way cookies, and more.
The team plans on turning part of the canteen into arts and events space, complete with a separate entrance in the back of the building.
The pairing
Strange Fellows Brewing is a good neighbour. As the Crawl’s official beer sponsor, the Clark Drive brewery has released a special 25th anniversary brew called Civitas in honour of the fest’s milestone.
Spicy, dry, bright, and floral, the beer (4.5 percent ABV) was made with classic Belgian Ardennes yeast to which lemongrass and coriander were added. It has flavours of pear, delicate lemon, and soft spice.
Here’s how Strange Fellows sums it up: “Commemorating 25 years of community, Civitas celebrates East Van’s own champion of creative expression & public engagement – The East Side Arts Society, producers of the beloved East Side Culture Crawl. Pour a glass of this dry & aromatic Belgian – style single & join us in a toast to their mission to bring community together through art & to inspire the next generation of artists.”
The release is the latest in SFB’s Helping Hands Project Series, inspired by its desire to help folks in the community by brewing beer. The team donates profits to different local organizations on a rotating basis. We’ll drink to that.
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