Le So.Cial at Le Magasin - Deli

Le Social at Le Magasin
Custom Butcher Shop & Deli
332 Water Street
Vancouver BC, V6B 1B6
Ph: 604.669.4488
map
Neighborhood: Gastown

Price: $

Gastown’s Le Magasin is a collection of shops and restaurants, housed in the style of the building’s arcade origins. After shopping at Button Button, I spied a deli on the back side of the posh oyster bar, Le So.Cial. Inside, I found a great Gastown lunch option (one on the gourmet, spendy side of ‘cheap eats’). For $5.95, you can get a small sandwich (basically a hand-sized triangle). These aren’t just any old sandwiches. Le So.Cial’s deli has a selection of local and organic custom cut meats, house made charcuterie, terrines, sausages, bacon and a delicious assortment of condiments. If the deli is too crowded, you can sit in Le So.Cial’s swanky lounge. There are a couple stools and a counter inside the deli which is itself done up in the Le Magasin’s 1911 style with high, pressed-tin ceilings, rustic floors and grand windows. There’s even a tree (dead or fake?) in the middle of the room. Just beware of the cranky butcher...

Button Button

Button Button
422 Cordova Street West
Vancouver, BC V6B 4K2(604) 687-0067

There is something so deliciously old school about a store that sells only one, very specific type of item. Vancouver has several of these: Drexoll for board games, a pen shop downtown but my very favorite is Button Button for, you guessed it, buttons. The store sits on a quiet corner in Gastown; a giant spool of thread marks its entrance. And because its inventory is only buttons, the range available is mind boggling. There are vintage buttons of porcelain, resin and wood to new plastic ones, and for lovers of kitsch there are those shaped like bananas, monsters or cobs of corn. I need buttons because I make crafts; I love buttons for their tiny punches of flare.