A New European Bistro Is Coming to Commercial Drive
Van Urban Hospitality’s latest project blends Spanish and Italian craft with neighbourhood dining
Vancouver, BC: March 10, 2026 - Commercial Drive has long been known for its character, and this April, a new restaurant will add another layer to it: Violeté, a European-inspired bistro designed as a place for the neighbourhood to gather.
Opening early next month at 1380 Commercial Drive, Violeté is the latest venture from Vancouver restaurateur Reuben Major's Van Urban Hospitality group, which includes Havana, The Flamingo Room, and Railtown’s Vancouver Urban Winery and Belgard Kitchen. Standing tall amongst its recognizable siblings, Violeté is different; it’s personal, reflective and more deliberate.
At a time when opening an independent restaurant requires conviction, Major is doubling down on neighbourhood dining, leaning into the burgeoning culinary pulse of Vancouver that is Commercial Drive. Violeté is the product of time, travel and experience built to transport guests to a foreign land. The restaurant draws from two decades of travel through Europe (specifically Spain and Italy, though the menu is not bound by borders), and experiences forged over cooking and eating; whether in a 200 year old kitchen in San Sebastián, learning the craft of traditional pizza making in Naples, or thumbing orecchiette with an 85 year-old Nonna in the rolling hills of Tuscany. Those formative moments, layered over time, inspire a menu and decor that is rooted, not recreated.
Designed for gathering, Violeté is “a place for people to come together while feeling transported elsewhere,” says Major. “Spain and Italy have influenced my career profoundly, and this restaurant is about sharing that in a way that’s right for the community in which it calls home. That welcoming sense of place extends beyond the food to the memorable feeling we’re working to create.”
With community at its heart, the 2,700-square-foot restaurant seats 78 indoors and 16 on the patio. Designed by Lemon Lane Interiors, the space is a thoughtful blend of rounded archways, luscious greenery, Tuscan-style tiles and Roman clay finishes. The tone is upscale/casual and a place where lunch lingers, dinner unfolds and a quick glass of wine turns easily into an evening.
Inheriting a forno oven from the former restaurant is a return to his roots for Executive Chef and Partner, Andrew Hounslow, who cut his culinary teeth slinging pizzas in a wood burning forno oven as a young cook. "I'm looking forward to leading a unique yet timeless menu that centres on cooking techniques that take me back 20 plus years with this oven as the focal point of the food we’re creating,” he says. Head Chef Andrew Kelly’s cooking emphasizes curated dishes using exceptional local, seasonal, and traditional ingredients, prepared with both modern and time-honoured techniques. Dishes including branzino a la plancha and risotto nero will anchor a menu that balances refinement with food that brings comfort.
Under the guidance of Group Beverage Director Alexa Greenman, Bar Manager Taylor Gardiner, formerly wine director at Bar Corso, has designed a beverage program that spotlights Spanish and Italian producers alongside standout BC wineries, with each bottle chosen for its story and character. Cocktails evoke inspiration from those same regions and are balanced, bold in flavour and poured for conversation.
General Manager Paris Pelan, who grew up in hospitality with a hotelier mother and chef father leads the FOH operations. Paris joined the group at Havana in 2023, before moving into a leadership role at Belgard a year later: part of an internally growing team that reinforces Violeté’s vision and that understands both polish and warmth.
Violeté adds a European chapter to Major’s globally inspired portfolio, but more importantly it reinforces Commercial Drive’s legacy of independent hospitality. In a city where restaurant openings often chase novelty, Violeté makes a quieter statement: that craft, community and neighbourhood dining matter. Commercial Drive has long been defined by independent operators and the restaurant adds to that lineage, as a place designed to be returned to, time and again.
