Chef David Gunawan Continues to Champion Community, Sustainability at Recently Opened Ubuntu Canteen

CHEF DAVID GUNAWAN CONTINUES TO CHAMPION COMMUNITY, SUSTAINABILITY AT RECENTLY OPENED UBUNTU CANTEEN IN VANCOUVER’S FRASERHOOD

Latest Project for Farmer’s Apprentice, Grapes & Soda Team Embraces Community in Family Friendly, Organic-Forward Bakery, Coffee Shop and Counter-Service Restaurant

Recently opened organic, family focused bakery and restaurant Ubuntu Canteen will bolster its weekly service to include a series of monthly events that underscore its mission to cultivate a sense of community in the heart of Vancouver’s Fraserhood and beyond beginning this April.

Ubuntu Canteen is the latest project for celebrated chef and owner David Gunawan, who began his culinary career in Vancouver at such award-winning restaurants as West, Maenam and Wildebeest before launching South Granville farm-to-table staple Farmer’s Apprentice in 2013 and the city’s first all-natural wine bar Grapes & Soda in 2015. While Ubuntu exudes a more casual, approachable focus in terms of menu, service and atmosphere, all three establishments share a common bond in Gunawan’s innovative, artisanal culinary approach and steadfast support of local farms, pastures and providers.

Featuring seating for 40 in a modular, family friendly space that offers a children’s play area, high chairs and wide aisles to accommodate strollers, Ubuntu Canteen is open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a bakery, coffee shop and counter-service restaurant that champions local, organic and sustainably sourced ingredients while providing a place for friends and family to gather, break bread and build a strong sense of community.

To that end, Ubuntu — which derives its name from a Zulu philosophy of knowing oneself through others — will host a series of community focused events each month, beginning with the following events throughout April that include:

UBUNTU FILM NIGHT
First Monday of each month
Beginning Monday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.) members of the community will curate a ‘Film Night’ feature on the first Monday of each month that offers guests a chance to experience a different film and enjoy an inspired menu of snacks and drinks with plenty of time to discuss the film before and after the screening.

UBUNTU WINE NIGHT
Second Monday of each month
On Monday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), Ubuntu will host its inaugural monthly Wine Night and welcome wine lovers to gather and engage in a discussion about the exciting world of natural wine. The first edition will welcome special guest host, Claire Saksun (Burdock and Co., Juice Bar, Royal Dinette), who will be speaking about her experience making Pét-Nat at Bella Winery while pouring a selection of Pét-Nats throughout the evening. Tickets for the educational portion of the evening are $25 per person and will be sold at the door, with a menu of snacks will be available for purchase.

UBUNTU PÉT-NAT TUESDAYS
Weekly, every Tuesday
The Ubuntu sommelier team will spotlight an array of Pétillant Natural wines — or Pét-Nat, for short — during ‘Pét-Nat Tuesdays’ evenings beginning April 2 at 5 p.m. and continuing April 9, 16, 23 and 30. Each event will focus on sparkling wine produced in the single-fermentation, ancestral method originally used in the south of France and will pair an array of Pét-Nat with freshly shucked oysters.

UBUNTU BOOK CLUB
Last Monday of each month
In an effort to engage in intentional and compassionate conversations around a chosen book, the restaurant will host regular meetings of the Ubuntu Book Club starting Monday, April 29 at 7 p.m. Each month, a featured work — which can include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoirs and more — will be displayed at Ubuntu along with annotation cards that encourage engagement with the work. To suggest a contributor for the book club, send an email to hello@nullubuntucanteen.ca.

UBUNTU SUNDAY SUPPER SERIES
Weekly, every Sunday
Beyond its new April programming, Ubuntu Canteen will also continue to feature its ongoing Sunday Supper Series served up communal style on long tables in its warm and inviting dining room every Sunday beginning at 5 p.m. Each edition of the Sunday Supper Series showcases a chef who will prepare a home-cooked meal that reflects their own background, training or culinary style.

“We believe seasonal, organic and sustainable food and drink should be more accessible to all, and our aim is to spark a conversation about establishing a connection with the local purveyors we are proud to support on a daily basis,” says Gunawan. “For us, Ubuntu is all about embracing humanity, exhibiting understanding and being a microcosm for encouraging and effecting lasting change in the community that lies just beyond our doors and comfort zones.”

For more information on Ubuntu Canteen or to stay up to date on its latest events and developments, go to ubuntucanteen.ca, become a fan of /Ubuntu-Canteen on Facebook and follow @ubuntucanteen on Instagram.

ABOUT UBUNTU CANTEEN | Located in the heart of Vancouver’s burgeoning Fraserhood district, Ubuntu Canteen is the latest project for David Gunawan, the locavore-focused chef behind such notable and award-winning Vancouver restaurants as Farmer’s Apprentice and Grapes & Soda. Deriving its name from a Zulu word meaning ‘compassion’ and ‘humanity’, Ubuntu Canteen is a conscious and future-focused restaurant, bakery and coffee shop that provides a space where friends and families of all ages can gather together to break bread, share stories and build a strong sense of community. By day, Unbuntu offers a bakery that prepares organic pastries, fresh sourdough loaves and lighter fare comprising ingredients grown by its family network of local farmers and a full-service espresso bar using locally roasted, ethically sourced beans. By night, Ubuntu dims the lights, plays records and serves up a variety of approachable-yet-elevated dishes and fresh nightly features such as house-made pasta, rotisserie chicken and local seafood paired with house-made cocktails, biodynamic and natural wine and a rotating selection of some of BC’s best craft beer.

4194 Fraser St., Vancouver, BC, V5V 4E8 | 604-336-9097 | ubuntucanteen.ca
Hours: Open Tuesday – Sunday; Breakfast and Lunch 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Dinner Service from 5 – 10 p.m.; Happy Hour from 5 – 6 p.m.

Facebook: /Ubuntu-Canteen | Instagram: @ubuntucanteen

Media release and images provided by Shelley MacArthur Everett, SMC Communications Inc.

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