Downtown Vancouver just got much tastier with the opening of Hello Nori, a sushi-focused Japanese restaurant, at 1165 Robson Street. Hello Nori’s focus is on the experience of enjoying a hand roll: a combination of fresh seafood, meticulously selected seaweed, and signature warm rice, prepared to order in front of guests’ eyes at an inviting 24-seat U-shaped bar.
Hello Nori Opens on Robson Street
Hello Nori has taken every step to ensure its dining room is compliant with public health and safety protocols, including reduced occupancy, removable plexiglass dividers, and disposable menus for those who require them.
Hello Nori rolls: Truffle lobster, scallop, spicy salmon, shrimp
Wrapped around the likes of Hokkaido scallop, toro, yellowtail, and truffle lobster, there are 13 hand rolls in all, available à la carte or as part of set menus of four, five, and six rolls. Hello Nori offers a locally brewed sake (available on-tap), as well as premium matcha tea.
Vancouver-based Concrete Cashmere Designs has fashioned a dining room that perfectly complements Hello Nori’s food and drink offerings. Inspired by the Japanese notion of wabi-sabi (“appreciating the beauty of imperfection”) as well as Western modernism, the 1,500-square-foot space combines raw materials such as wood, metal and concrete with mountainscape scenery and a ceiling that evokes ocean waves — in short, an echo of Vancouver’s extraordinary fusion of urban architecture and rugged surroundings.
Hello Nori truffle lobster roll
Hello Nori is the brainchild of first-time restaurateur Jean-François Eap, whose foray into the hospitality industry comes after 15 successful years in retail and software. “The goal for me and my team is to deliver a new kind of Japanese dining experience that’s fast and casual without any compromise in food or environment,” he says. “To achieve this, I knew I needed talented, deeply experienced professionals around me.”
Eap’s hand-picked culinary team includes Chef Jay Pugong, who arrives at Hello Nori following his role as head chef at Minami Restaurant. “There is no cuisine I’m more passionate about than Japanese,” says Pugong. “Hello Nori gives me the opportunity to create and serve premium-quality sushi in a casual setting. Our food may be served quickly, but this isn’t fast food.”
There are two more locations already confirmed to open in Metro Vancouver later this year: One at Park Royal in West Vancouver and the other at Brentwood Town Centre in Burnaby.
Giveaway
To celebrate Hello Nori opening on Robson Street I have a $100 gift card to give away! Here’s how you can enter to win:
This weekend Miss604 is proud to be a sponsor of the Show of Hearts Telethon for Variety – the Children’s Charity of BC! Tune in to Global BC on Saturday from 1:00pm to 5:30pm to see stories from BC families, updates on Variety kids, and entertainment from David Foster, Pia Toscano, Loverboy, and much more! Find this and more things to do in Vancouver this weekend (online and beyond) below:
Coast Mental Health Foundation is excited to launch its very first 50/50 Raffle, where you can win BIG for Mental Health, with a prize pot of up to $150,000.
This past year has been unlike anything we ever could have expected. For people living with mental illness, it’s been devastating. You will provide urgently needed support for people living with mental illness right here in BC, including affordable meals, peer support, Cognitive Remediation, art therapy, outreach, employment opportunities and so much more.
You will have the chance to take home a cash prize and you’ll bring help and hope to your neighbours living with mental illness.
Tickets start from just $10 – don’t delay, purchase now before they run out.
As a non-profit organization, Coast Mental Health is BC’s largest provider of community-based services for people living with mental illness. We provide the critical link between hospital services and our communities. We are an established leader in our field, known for high quality, innovative programs and research. Each year, we provide essential services to over 5,000 people living with mental illness so they can find their meaningful place in our communities – a place to live, a place to connect, and a place to work.
Follow Coast Mental Health on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more information and updates.
Miss604 is the proud Blog Sponsor of the Coast Mental Health raffle
The RBC JCC Sports Dinner, virtual edition, is just weeks away and the exciting silent auction is now live online! Event tickets are going fast, but you can still get in on all the action and enjoy an exciting evening on March 3 with the remarkable Keynote Speaker, Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
Hosted by the voice of the Canucks at Rogers Arena, Al Murdock, tickets are only $36. Each ticket enters you in a chance to win an autographed framed photograph of Magic. The evening is full of fun, live auctions and an exclusive interview with the legendary keynote.
I am very excited to share a new campaign that I have joined that will make a big impact in my hometown of Surrey, BC. For its 50th Anniversary, Options Community Services has united 50 influential South Fraser women — the Women of Options — to help raise 1.5 million dollars in support of a new affordable housing build in Surrey.
50 Women of Options
For 50 years, Options has worked as a registered charity to provide essential social services in Surrey, Delta, White Rock/South Surrey and Langley. Last year alone, their 500 plus staff, and over 80 programs, assisted more than 100,000 people within these communities
The 50 participating women have offered to help by joining the campaign to raise $25,000 each in support of this project. Options board members and staff have also contributed to the cause and the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society has contributed $250,000.
The $1.5 million raised through Options will go towards a 100-unit complex at 8135, 8123, and 8109 King George Boulevard. Of these 100 units, 30 will be market rentals (still targeted to vulnerable populations, as not all vulnerability is financial), while the remaining 70 will be well below market rates —designated as affordable housing, with rent starting as low as $375 per month.
“We need to have housing options that are available to all income segments to live, learn, work, and play in our own city.” – Anita Huberman, Surrey Board of Trade CEO and one of the 50 Women.
The new build will also host community services such as Early Years, mental health outreach, and family services. With occupancy slated for mid-2023, this project expands Options’ capacity to provide community support and to add affordable housing to the City of Surrey.
A list of all 50 participants can be found on the Women of Options website, and you can find my personal donation page here. Stay tuned for a special fundraiser coming from Miss604, and in the meantime follow Options Community Services on Facebook to learn more.
