While digital technologies have undermined and shuttered so many neighbourhood theatres and bookstores, a concurrent embrace of more ancient operations like bakeries and butchers has allowed progressive companies like Two Rivers Specialty Meats to expand beyond the production and distribution of meat to include its cooking and consumption onsite.
A dream of Margot and Jason Pleym, Two Rivers began in 2007 with an office, meat-cutting room and warehouse in a shared ground-level building in a light-industrial-zoned waterfront district of North Vancouver. As the business grew, so did consumer interest, with many asking if Two Rivers might one day ?go retail.? In 2016, Two Rivers and interior designer Anna Walentowicz enlisted Campos Studio to help turn an adjacent space into a point-of-purchase outlet and ?fast casual? dining room that would both meet its clients? needs and reflect the company?s commitment to ?quality meat products, respect for the animals and people we work with, and excellence every step of the way?from how we choose our partners to the cuts on your plate.? Chef Tony Starratt?s kitchen and eatery works in tandem with the butcher shop.
For architect Javier Campos, inspiration came from the open-air markets at the southern tip of Mexico?s Baja California Sur, where he has been designing sleek, low-impact houses for the past dozen years. ?I?ve always been attracted to the improvisational nature of these markets,?says Campos, ?the variability of the shops and th...