Forkhill House Irish Bistro

Jeff and Jaime Lenz were looking to buy a Vancouver restaurant when they saw a 1910 heritage spot on Alberni Street for sale. An image of Jaime’s ancestry came to Jeff, who shouted: “Let’s create an Irish restaurant!” Jaime, a first generation Irish-Canadian with proud heritage, told her husband he was crazy. “There’s no such thing,” she said. "Why not?" Jeff asked. “We’ll offer fine food with an Irish twist, top-notch service without pretension, and a bushel of Irish humour!” Jeff and Jaime put in an offer on the Alberni listing immediately. They took possession 24 hours later and opened Forkhill House a month later, in March 2017. “We worked for 28 days straight,” the couple laughs.

Generations of Jaime's family, the Brooks, were food producers in the village of Forkhill in Northern Ireland. During the Great Famine, the Brooks set a famine pot in front of their property. The giant cast iron vat held porridge in the morning and stew in the evening – food for anyone willing to work a day in their fields. Famished folk often avoided asking for food at a church, where they would likely be asked to convert from Catholic to Protestant, or vice versa. The Brooks' famine pot made a huge difference to hungry locals.